Sharp CCTV footage shows the moment an 87-year-old shopper falls victim to suspected distraction theft.

Ummariyat Mirza's arrest at gunpoint was prompted by MI5 intelligence that he was going to carry out a knife attack, similar to those seen this year in London, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

A training dummy was found in the couple's home with slash marks on the forehead, across the throat and abdomen.

Sue Hemming, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said there was "little doubt" that Mirza had the knife to carry out a terror attack in the UK.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Police have arrested 11 people in the UK after overnight raids, as part of a Europe-wide investigation into people smuggling.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Birmingham was the likely target for a terror attack planned by a husband and wife from the city, police say.

Madihah Taheer, 21, was today found guilty of buying a combat knife to help her husband.

Jurors were told the couple developed their plans after falling in love as teenagers.

The trial at Woolwich Crown Court heard Taheer had texted her husband-to-be in 2015 to say it was her "dream" to hurt or kill a person the pair both knew - and claimed to have a list of potential victims.

The jury at Woolwich Crown Court took less than a day to convict her of preparing an act of terrorism.

Mirza, pleaded guilty to the same charge earlier this month.

The pair, along with Mirza's older sister Zainab Mirza, are due to be sentenced next week.

The 14-year-old victim was raped twice in separate attacks near Witton, Birmingham, in July.

The Sentinel

The Stoke Sentinel website features these stories today:

• Ambitious £65m project to finish city centre, external
• Drug dealer jailed after police sieze cocaine from his home, external
• Brawl at young offenders institution leaves prison officers injured, external

The men have denied 29 offences against 15 children at a children's home where they used to work.

Tim Page
News Editor, BBC Shropshire

Poundland has redesigned its chocolate bars modelled on the Wrekin in Shropshire and plans to have 500,000 of them on sale in the run-up to Christmas.

The discount retailer, based in the West Midlands, has been in a legal row with the makers of Toblerone, who said the design of the Twin Peaks bar was too similar to its own product.

Image source, Ian Slater

The two sides have now reached an agreement and Poundland is claiming the new design will look even more like the Wrekin and Ercall hills after which it's named.

The pair argued over who was more radical - and on whether to spend money on weapons or baby clothes.

A new helicopter, which is due to join the Midlands Air Ambulance in the new year, has arrived in the UK to be fitted with all the necessary equipment.

The charity which raises funds for the service announced in January it would be spending £7m on the Airbus H145 helicopter, which is larger than their existing models.

Image source, Helitech

It is due to be based at its Cosford base in Shropshire and has been taken on a test flight after arriving in the country from Germany.

Police have arrested 11 people in the UK after overnight raids, as part of a Europe-wide investigation into people smuggling.

Those arrested were detained in Gateshead, London and Birmingham.

They are alleged to be part of an organised crime gang that used vehicles with secret compartments to transport people to the UK.

A further 15 people were arrested in Bulgaria and Belgium during raids at the same time.

Image source, SKY POOL

People have donated more than £950 to help an elderly woman who was targeted by pickpocketers while shopping in Oswestry.

An online fund-raising page has been set up by a woman who says she doesn't know the lady but she started the donation page to "help me to make this lady believe that there is some good out there still".

An appeal to find the two men has been launched.

Worcester News

Here are three stories from the Worcester News website today:

• Footballer banned after testing positive for cocaine, external
• Thieves steal dog from shelter, external
• Famous steam train not coming to Worcester, external

This railway bridge in Lichfield has been bashed by lorries more than any other in the West Midlands and is the sixth-most hit in Britain.

Trains between Lichfield and Four Oaks had to run at reduced speeds early this morning after it was hit yet again by a vehicle.

The St John Street bridge has been struck 86 times since 2009 and Network Rail is urging all drivers to know the height of their vehicles.

Image source, Network Rail

Network Rail says its bridges suffer almost 2,000 strikes a year, costing £23m to repair.

The end of October always sees a spike in the number of incidents, rising to almost 10 a day.

The organisation believes this may be explained by the clocks going back and the start of increased Christmas deliveries.

The programme is looking at how political uncertainty affects businesses, including a maker of camping equipment.

Eleven people have been arrested this morning in London, Birmingham and Gateshead as part of a Europe-wide investigation into suspected people smuggling, the Home Office says.

The raids were carried out by the National Crime Agency alongside colleagues from Europe.

The MP for Redditch has entered her pet dog into this year's Westminster Dog of the Year competition which is taking place in London today.

Rachel Maclean is hoping her Jack Russell /Staffie Cross, Phoebe will come out on top in the contest which celebrates the unique bond between MP and dog.

Phoebe, who is a rescue dog, should win the award because "I doubt there is any dog with greater stamina, something that all Parliamentarians need in large quantities to endure this job!" says Ms Maclean.

The UK's largest agricultural event is to leave Peterborough.

The annual two-day farm machinery show - called LAMMA, external - has been held at the East of England Showground since 2014, and this year attracted over 40,000 visitors.

But the organisers have announced it will move to the National Exhibtion Centre (NEC) in Birmingham in 2019.

They say the last one in Peterborough, to held between 17-18 January will be the largest yet, with 900 exhibitors.

Image source, Google

Alistair Binney
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

There are fears being raised by environmental health officials that a site earmarked for a new housing development near Droitwich could be contaminated with anthrax.

There are plans for nearly 200 homes on fields at Hampton Lovett, but Worcestershire Regulatory Services is worried livestock carrying the infection may have been buried there.

The officials say the land has been used for farming for many years and while they can't say for certain livestock were buried there, they can't rule it out either.

Image source, Science Photo Library

Worcestershire Regulatory Services has written to Worcestershire County Council, urging them to get the developers to carry out a full investigation.

The anthrax spore can lay dormant for years in soil, so there are health and safety implications if animal remains are found.

A woman who made more than 300 silent 999 calls over two months has been given a community order at Cannock Magistrates' Court.

Donna Walters, 48 of Cabot Grove, Wolverhampton admitted wasting police time and persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance and was handed an 18-month community order.

Walters rang 999 between July and August last year about 360 times and remained silent on all of the calls, Staffordshire Police said.