Former police officer convicted of abusing boys
Young refugee reunited with dad
Money stolen from vulnerable adults replaced
Updates from Friday 21 October 2016
Birmingham Post
Adam’s restaurant in Birmingham has been named the third best in the UK and ninth best in the world, external.
Police reveal the inside of a brothel which a judge has called a 'conveyor-belt of prostitution'.
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Monica Rimmer
Journalist, BBC Online
Britain's Olympic and Paralympic stars are are being honoured with a celebration in London's Trafalgar Square.
It follows the victory parade in Manchester on Monday when thousands of supporters lined the streets to cheer on the victorious teams.
Ellie Simmonds from Walsall seems to be loving the atmosphere and is all smiles.
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A father and son who ran a Birmingham brothel which made an estimated turnover of £8m are jailed.
Read MoreA grandmother who fleeced more than £35,000 from a ‘vulnerable’ pensioner is starting a 27-month prison sentence today., external
Officers raided Birmingham brothel the Libra Club this year after investigations showed it was attracting up to 200 customers a day, West Midlands Police says, external.
Achilleos Neophytou, aged 66, (top left) and his son Stefanos, 25, (top middle) ran the venue in Summer Hill Road which officers say generated £7m before being shut down following the raid last year. Both were jailed today for 27 months.
They had admitted keeping a brothel used for prostitution, as had three Birmingham women and another local man, Martin Tierney, 50, who was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceClockwise from top left: Achilleos Neophytou, Stefanos Neophytou, Martin Tierney, Ogun Olufunlola, Anita O’Donnell and Marilyn Egan
Marilyn Egan, 65, (bottom left), Anita O’Donnell, 55, (bottom middle) and Ogun Olufunlola, 30, were given 12-month community orders.
Chief Inspector Chris Mallett said: “This was an illegal venue which made millions of pounds - but also put lives at risk with the disorder it attracted."
The brothel had been hit by an arson attack in which a petrol bomb was thrown at the front entrance and gunshots were also fired at the premises.
BBC Entertainment and Arts
Writer Caitlin Moran is seeking funds to revive her Raised by Wolves sitcom.
The Wolverhampton-based show, written by Moran and sister Caroline and based on their upbringing, was axed by Channel 4 after two series.
The siblings are attempting to raise £320,000 by 20 November in order to fund "at least one new episode".
Image source, ReutersThe show, which features a single mother raising a large family in Wolverhampton, was named best sitcom at the Rose d'Or awards last month.
Clive Eakin
BBC Sport
A new city-based cricket event under ECB discussion could be the first professional domestic competition not to feature the First Class counties.
The new competition would run alongside the existing T20 Blast competition, with eight new teams based in cities with county grounds - but as completely separate franchises.
Edgbaston-based Warwickshire is one of the counties that is supporting the proposals.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe ECB hopes to persuade other counties to accept the competition on the back of winning significant income.
Canadian pop star complained the hefty crowd was only, external "two feet away" at Barclaycard Arena.
Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM
The top headlines for Birmingham and the Black Country this afternoon include:
- A father and son who helped run a Birmingham brothel which made more than £1m a year have been jailed
- Relatives of some of those killed in the Birmingham pub bombings will meet MPs in London today
- Wolverhampton-born author Caitlin Moran has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to pay for new episodes of TV show Raised By Wolves
Further showers pushing in later on through the afternoon across northern areas, heavy at times.
The north west winds will be fairly blustery which will make it feel a lot colder than yesterday, with highs of 13C (55F).
Latest weather for the West Midlands
Jailing Achilleos Neophytou, 66, for 27 months for running a Birmingham brothel, Judge Richard Bond branded him a "controlling mind of the club".
He said the Libra Club in the Jewellery Quarter was a "highly organised conveyor belt of prostitution" that had purported to be a "massage sauna" but "there was not a massage table in sight".
Neophytou's son, Stephanos, 25, received the same prison sentence, while "manager" Martin Tierney, 50, of Sheffield Road, Sutton Coldfield, received a ten-month suspended sentence.
The judge said advantage had been taken of three women who received community orders for working at the venue as either madams or receptionists.
Alec Blackman
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire
A weekly pile of wet wipes weighing the same "as a Range Rover" is being removed from the region's sewers, contributing to an annual clean-up bill of £5m, it's been claimed.
Severn Trent says about 75% of blockages are caused by people misusing the system and "flushing things like wipes".
The company is warning against types branded "flushable", which, it said, "from our point of view, they're really not".
James Jesic, operations manager, explained: "Every weekend, in every town, around three and a half tonnes of wipes and other items which shouldn’t be flushed are dragged out of our sewers - that’s about the same weight as a Range Rover."
Image source, Severn TrentOne weekend of waste
A "conveyor belt of prostitution" is how a judge has described a Birmingham brothel, jailing two men for their part in its running.
Father and son team Achilleos and Stephanos Neophytou (66 and 25 years old respectively) have today at Birmingham Crown Court each been given a 27-month prison sentence.
Martin Tierney, 50, of Sheffield Road, Sutton Coldfield - manager of the Libra Club in the city's Jewellery Quarter - received a 10-month sentence, suspended for two years.
Three women received community orders for working at the venue as either madams or receptionists.
All six had admitted keeping a brothel used for prostitution.
A father and son who helped run a Birmingham brothel which made more than £1m a year have been jailed.
Achilleos Neophytou, 66, and 25-year-old Stefanos Neophytou were each jailed for 27 months for their part in managing the Libra Club, in Summer Hill Road, which attracted up to 200 clients a day before it was raided by police last year.
The pair had earlier admitted keeping a brothel used for prostitution.
Relatives of some of those killed in the Birmingham pub bombings will meet MPs in London today.
They will discuss financial support to pay for lawyers at the forthcoming inquests.
Monica Rimmer
Journalist, BBC Online
Fresh from Monday's parade in Manchester, Great Britain's Olympic and Paralympic stars head to London today for celebrations in Trafalgar Square.
Here's Walsall's Ellie Simmonds in Manchester yesterday with CBBC's Hacker T Dog, external...
Image source, TwitterYou can follow live text coverage of today's event on BBC Sport.
Steve Hermon
Journalist, BBC WM
Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce has hinted at changes for tonight's game at Reading.
It's Villa's second match in four days following the international break and Bruce may rest some of his squad who were away with their countries.
Quote MessagePeople like Ayew didn't play; Bacuna, because they'd been on planes, so I didn't want three or four or five with that excuse. It was Micah Richards' first game and he found it difficult later on but I think that's only normal."
Steve Bruce, Aston Villa manager
Kick-off for tonight's match at the Madejski stadium is 20:00. You can listen to the game live on BBC WM 95.6FM.
Clive Eakin
BBC Sport
Plans for a new eight-team T20 event are being discussed by top cricket officials today.
The England and Wales Cricket Board wants to introduce a competition that could rival the Indian Premier League and the Australian Big Bash league.
Image source, Getty ImagesIf it wins approval, the new tournament will be held at city-based Test grounds and could start as early as 2018.
It could mean there are two teams in Warwickshire, the existing Bears and a new franchise, but both playing at Edgbaston.
Five men have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of a man who was found in a Halesowen street with head injuries.
Karl Swift, from South Yorkshire, was found in New Road on 9 September.
The 33-year-old was taken to hospital but died the following day.
Of the arrested five, four are from Sheffield and one is from Rotherham.
Image source, West Midlands Police
