Michele Paduano
Health correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

An ambulance called to a boy who went into cardiac arrest bypassed a nearby hospital for a site 18 miles further away at which he died. 

Alexandra Hospital in Redditch is about a two-minute drive from Callum Cartlidge's home where he was taken ill, but it has  not been accepting ambulances that are dealing with paediatric emergencies  since September last year.

The eight-year-old's journey to Worcestershire Royal Hospital - 18 miles further away than the Alexandra - took 23 minutes during Friday's rush hour, sources say.

Image source, Family picture

Last Thursday, Callum was discharged from Worcestershire Royal Hospital to which he had been sent by a GP, his mother Stacey said, having got more poorly following an earlier diagnosis of tonsilitis.

Following a cardiac arrest on Friday afternoon he returned and died, the trust running both sites confirmed.

The trust says it cannot comment further while "a full external SUDIC (Sudden Unexpected Death In Infants And Children) investigation as well as our own internal processes" are under way.

A builder charged with murdering his ex-partner in 1981 has denied writing a letter being used by the prosecution in the case against him.

Osmond Bell, of Regent Road, Handsworth, is alleged to have sent the anonymous letter shortly after 24-year-old Nova Welsh disappeared more than 30 years ago to shift suspicion to another man.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Birmingham Crown Court had already been told that a 2014 forensic examination of the lick-seal of the letter's envelope found an "incomplete" DNA profile allegedly matching Bell.

Bell, 60, denied writing the letter but told jurors he inspected it during four days of questioning at Birmingham's Ladywood police station in 1981. 

He claimed that during the interrogation he was assaulted. 

Prosecutors say he murdered Ms Welsh - the mother of his two children - at her home in Lighthorne Avenue, Ladywood, in the early hours of Monday July 27 1981, which he denies. The trial continues.

Ben Parker
BBC Suffolk sport

As Ipswich Town hope to break their run of four 1-1 stalemates when they take on Wolves at Portman Road  later, midfielder Cole Skuse is hoping he might double his scoring tally for the club, by finding the back of the net.

The 30-year-old admits that goalscoring has never been his strong point: "I’ve only scored 10 career goals in nigh on 500 appearances, so it's not as if I've come to Ipswich a prolific goal scorer."

There have only been three occasions so far this year, when Town have managed to score more than one goal in a match.

A three-month-old baby girl, an 18-month-old boy and two women were carried from a balcony.

Ben Parker
BBC Suffolk sport

Ipswich Town host Wolves at Portman Road tonight hoping to end a run of four consecutive 1-1 draws.

Midfielder Emyr Huws is a doubt with a hamstring injury.

Town boss Mick McCarthy has previously said the Welsh international has expressed an interest in joining Ipswich permanently. 

He thinks Huws, on loan from Cardiff, will be surplus to requirements at his parent club: "I think Neil [Warnock, Cardiff manager] has signed a new contract and if the feeling's still the same, I kinda know what'll be happening with him."

The civilian aircraft had lost communications while in UK airspace, the Ministry of Defence says.

Nicola Beckford
Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

An investigation has begun into the death of an eight-year-old boy who was sent home from hospital the night before. 

And the inspirational story of a young boy's fight to become a ballet dancer against the backdrop of the miners strike of 1984 is coming to the stage here in Birmingham. We've been to meet the star. 

Join us for more on these stories and others on the Midlands Today on BBC One from 13:30.

BBC WM Sport

Wolves boss Paul Lambert says he will not give up on their fight for survival in the Championship.

Image source, Reuters

Lambert's side are just one point above the drop zone and go to Mick McCarthy's Ipswich tonight looking to avoid a seventh straight defeat.

Winger Ivan Cavaleiro is back from a knee injury. You can hear the game on DAB in the Black Country with us.

The fight against air pollution across towns and cities has a new bird brained weapon.

A car flipped over in an accident in Small Heath, Birmingham.

Monday afternoon's crash on Coventry Road saw the car land on the grass verge.

The man got himself out of the car but the crash prompted firefighters to warn drivers to always wear their seatbelts and to watch their speed.

Birmingham Mail

Second City Suite in Birmingham city centre has lost its licence after a man was shot, external in front of screaming children during a funeral wake last month.  

A taxi driver left a 71-year-old blind customer stranded because he was worried her guide dog would urinate and leave hairs in his car.

Image source, City of Wolverhampton Council

Rita Nicholls pre-booked on 4 October and told the company, Wednesfield Radio Cars, she would be travelling with a guide dog. She had used the firm several times before without a problem, City of Wolverhampton Council said.

When driver Samim Yakubi arrived to pick her up in Market Street, Wolverhampton, he told her there had been a mistake and he was there to collect someone else before he drove off.

Yakubi, aged 40, of Hobgate Road, Heath Town, told council officers he lied to Ms Nicholls because he was worried the dog would urinate in his car and shed hairs, according to the council.

Yakubi admitted to magistrates failing to accept a booking by a disabled person accompanied by an assistant dog and was fined £80 and ordered to pay costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £30. 

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

The interception of a Romanian civilian aircraft by RAF Typhoon  planes caused knock-on delays for passengers at Birmingham Airport.

A runway at Birmingham was closed from 07:09 to 07:37 GMT meaning a Ryanair flight due to arrive from Dublin at 07:35 was diverted to East Midlands.

A combination of the knock-on effect of the interception of the Romanian aircraft and air traffic control strikes meanwhile led to delays for seven departures, Birmingham Airport said.

RAF Typhoons have intercepted a Romanian plane and taken it to Birmingham after the aircraft lost communications, the Ministry of Defence has said .

Image source, MOD/Crown

The aircraft were dispatched from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on Tuesday morning following the alert.

The Romanian plane, which was a civilian aircraft, was escorted to Birmingham International Airport.

A spokesman said the response was routine and part of the RAF's air defence role to protect UK airspace.

Express and Star

The full extent of the West Midlands fly-tipping epidemic is today revealed with an average of 90 incidents every day, external costing taxpayers over £2 million a year.

Rob Mayor
Black Country Political Reporter, BBC WM

Council tax in Dudley will rise by 3.99% this year, after the Conservatives and UKIP joined forces to block the controlling Labour group’s planned rise of 4.99%.

Image source, Google

It means the council will receive around £1.2m less when it collects the bill, which works out at £1390.61 for a band D property. Opposition leaders say savings can be made elsewhere.

Councillors also agreed to consider moving to all-out elections next year, replacing the current system of electing a third of representatives across the borough each year.

David Lumb
BBC News Online

Calls have been made for harsher penalties to protect ambulance control room workers from abusive callers.

West Midlands Ambulance recorded 1,924 instances in three years, from 2013 to 2016 when a caller was abusive.

In six cases the abuse was judged to cause a "significant threat or concern".  

The union Unison has urged the government to bring in tougher punishments to deter abusive callers.

The Home Office said sufficient laws were already in place.

BBC News Travel

Rail passengers are facing delays because of a vehicle striking a bridge at Cradley Heath and trespassers on the line at Tipton, according to London Midland.

Disruption is expected until 09:30 GMT according to the train operator, external . 

A man has died after falling from a flat window in Birmingham.

An investigation has been launched into the circumstances of the fall, which police said they attended at around 21:55 GMT on Monday.

Stratford Road near to the junction of Camp Hill Circus and Kyotts Lake Road is cordoned off while emergency services carry out their investigations.

The man is thought to be in his 40s.

It's been a busy morning on train services. 

We've been sent this picture of a busy train at Droitwich - with only two carriages. 

London Midland said there have been faults this morning resulting in cancellations and fewer carriages.