24/04/2017 Midlands Today

The parents of a 13-month-old boy from Worcestershire who drowned

in the bath have both been jailed for manslaughter.

The court heard that Kian Dale had been left unattended

for up to 13 minutes, while Wayne Dale and Lisa Passey

Dale was jailed for four and a half years and Passey for four years.

In the quiet Worcestershire town of Tenbury Wells

they were a familiar sight on the High Street.

Everyone thought they were good parents.

I just thought they were normal, responsible parents

because he always had the kid on his shoulders going around

town and she would be pushing a pushchair.

Maria Fernandez was a neighbour who often spoke to the couple.

She was at home on the day Kian died.

I saw them in the garden so at the point I was seeing them

the baby must have been in the bath, so it was quite shocking for me

And thinking that the baby was over there and I couldn't do anything.

The court heard that that day window came screaming down the stairs with

his son in his arms. He had found him with his head and upper body

immersed in the water. A retired nurse living a few doors

up came to try and resuscitate Kian The air ambulance landed

in the school playing fields opposite, and Kian was taken

to Birmingham Children's Hospital, The case rested on the amount

of time that Kian had been in the bath and we identified

a period of up to 13 minutes. We worked that out from witness

testimony and we also identified that Wayne had used a computer

whilst Kian was in the bath, so we analysed that computer

and that computer gave us certain evidence around how it had been used

during that period of time. This was where Passey and Dale had

been entertaining a friend, smoking and drinking coffee as Kian

was in the bath Bath seats can give

you a false sense of security. They enable you to back your child

without keeping hold of them at all times,

and that's maybe where the problem arises, parents think their child

is securely supported in the bath, that they're not going to slip under

the water, but as this tragic case highlights,

that can still happen and in fact it's not the first time that we've

heard of a child falling out News of Kian's parents' conviction

has divided this country town. It's pretty defenceless at that

age, so no, I'm afraid During her trial Lisa Passey said

she didn't want pity. to have gone upstairs

to be with Kian. I think it's going to have a big

effect on her mentally The guilt is going to

be deadly, I think. I don't know how she would feel,

but I wouldn't be able It's one big, giant

mistake, isn't it? Hundreds of drivers spent up to four

hours trapped on the M40 earlier after police closed the road to deal

with an incident. The motorway is now open again

but traffic problems have continued Our reporter Amy Cole

has the details. As you can hear the motorway is back

open and traffic is moving well but motorists have had a miserable day.

The motorway was closed at junction 16 near Henley in Arden, down to

junction 15 in near Warwick at around 3:15pm.

It was all because police were concerned about

Specialist negotaiators were brought in and an ambualnce

Specialist negotaiators were brought in and an ambualance

The incident was eventually resolved just after 7.00pm this evening.

As well as the M40, there were also long delays on the M42, the A46,

the A452 and many other routes as a result of the motorway closure

Many drivers took to social media to vent their frustration

while they were trapped on the motorway below me.

Some were concerned about missing tonight's

concert by Bruno Mars at the Barclaycard

But another, Gail Poultney from Staffordshire, took time out

to tweet her thanks to Walsall coach company JK International after one

of its drivers opened their on-board toilet after she'd been stuck

Traffic is now moving well again tonight.

A 21-year-old Birmingham woman has tonight been charged

Officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism unit arrested

Madihah Taheer at an address in the city this morning as part

She will appear before Westminster magistrates tomorrow.

If you're a regular train traveller, you'll appreciate having

London Midland is joining other train companies

by offering just that, and something else,

on-board entertainment, including films to watch.

It's hoped it will be available on 70% of trains

Here's our Transport correspondent Peter Plisner.

Fancy watching a blockbuster movie next time you're on the train?

Now you can, and although it's only a limited selection in the future

Passengers we spoke to this morning seem to like the idea.

There are cartoons on there which is handy when you have children.

It will keep you entertained when I take this train.

Yeah, it's good but they could have a bit more on there.

The entertainment firm behind the new system says there's

We have a range of movies and 50 hours of television, ranging across

all genres. But for people who just

want to work free wi-fi If you've used online Wi-Fi systems

on trains before you how slow they can be but this promises

to be different because a lot of the content people will be

watching is already on board But London Midland is pretty late

in the game with on board wi-fi. Virgin Trains has had it for years,

but it's only free in First class. It's a similar picture on board

with Cross Country trains. Both both Chiltern Railways

and Arriva Trains Wales allows free The new train entertainment system

go live officially from tomorrow and it'll be available

on all London Midland long distance It's the dream of anyone

who is challenged with the big bills which come with an historic building

- being left a valuable work of art. That's what's happened

to Lichfield Cathedral. It's been given a painting

by the world renowned After spending two centuries

in private hands, the watercolour Painted by Turner in 1832,

this watercolour hasn't been seen collection and has been bequeathed

to Lichfield Cathedral. If you know Lichfield,

you will know this scene because this is Minster Pool,

but we also know it is his own because it is in his

own perspective. That's a characteristic of his,

he moved to capture light, so every pilgrim to the cathedral

will have seen it for 1,300 years, Alongside the painting

are Turner's sketches, many of which he did as a young man

before he completed These studies possibly

haven't been along with the final watercolour piece since

they were in Turner's studio, that's quite special,

to have the opportunity to stand and look at where possibly the last

person who saw them all together The three spires of Lichfield

Cathedral have inspired artists for centuries and alongside

the pitched by Turner, there are paintings from other

artists who captured this building's distinctive and awe-inspiring

architecture. Every artist has seen the cathedral

with their own image and evolve Every artist has seen the cathedral

with their own image and they've all It's that kind of domination

and that kind of, like, wow factor, that impact,

that is inspiring. I've always been a great fan

of Turner since I was a boy The exhibition is free and is open

daily for the next six weeks. It's a rare chance to see

a collection of paintings celebrating one of the Midlands'

most magnificent buildings. The gritters are out tonight

in parts of the region, which will give you an idea of how

the temperatures are going to fall. I'll leave you with a rather wintery

forecast from Shefali. Good evening. If only it was an

April falls, but it isn't and we are being tricked into thinking it is

winter this week when it is spring. Believe it or not we had these kind

of conditions this time last year as well.

Temperatures are tumbling this week post-cold front,

which was slipping southwards through the day.

So you can see from our Weather Watchers' picture

how the weather altered as it went along.

Cloudy across the north to begin with, then the sun appeared

It brought rain to the south, and a couple of hours ago

We have a legacy of cold air for the middle part of the weekend

temperatures will tumble and we have snow shovels and blustery winds as

well. That adds a wind chill and then the temperature picks up on

Friday for the bank holiday weekend. The cold front is to the south of

sand out of the way. Rush of showers are developing behind it. High

pressure is dominant to the Western that will kill off the shower

activity on Thursday and Friday. Tonight we have largely clear skies

across us right now said temperatures tumble to near freezing

in the countryside. A touch of Frost around the wind picks up and a few

showers in West tonight. They develop quite widely in the course

of tomorrow with a lot of sunshine in between but you know about it if

you are caught in no showers. It is windy and cold and temperatures are

nine to 11 but much colder in the showers but don't forget the

wind-chill. The shells contain hail thunder and snow on the wind --

hilltops. The National weather forecast is next.

course, there'll be the threat of some rain. More with the national

forecast now. Good evening. It's been turning

colder from the north so far today. It's been cold enough for

significant snow in northern Scotland. This was mid afternoon.

More recently it's been blowing around over the tops of the

mountains. Snow in April not necessarily unusual but it's usually

unwelcome. The colder air coming in behind the front which clears

towards the near continent, opening the floodgates to this Coldstream of

air all the way from the Arctic. That cold air increasingly