Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

Carers failed to turn on a frail woman’s heating hours before she passed away prompting a watchdog to demand Birmingham City Council apologise to her partner., external

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman upheld a complaint against the authority finding fault with their care although did not conclude it contributed to the cause of death.

The woman, who has not been identified, suffered from health conditions which caused "significant difficulties" with mobility, speech and daily living activities.

The council agreed with the watchdog’s recommendations to apologise as well as review its own complaints handling which was described as "confusing".

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Former Stoke City and England defender Mike Pejic has become a European Taekwondo Champion.

He won a gold for Great Britain at the Taekwondo Championships in Turkey.

Image source, Pejic Taekwondo

It was the championships' largest ever over-65's male individual category.

Access is being improved at four West Midlands railway stations to help people with mobility problems

Ludlow and Wellington in Shropshire will benefit from the Department for Transport funding, along with Smethwick Rolfe Street and Worcester Shrub Hill.

Image source, Google

The money will be used to pay for new routes into the stations, lifts, handrails and high-grip treads on staircases.

There are 73 stations around the country benefiting from the £300m funding.

Worcestershire sign New Zealand opener Hamish Rutherford as their overseas player for the first month of the 2019 campaign.

BBC Midlands Today

Around a quarter of women in Staffordshire aren't going for routine smear tests, according to Public Health England.

Image source, Getty Images

The figures, based on 25 to 64-year-olds who are invited to attend screenings, also show a third of women in Stoke-on-Trent don't attend appointments.

Fears of the examination have been blamed for a drop in appointments over the last decade.

Stratford-on-Avon's only Labour councillor has quit the party just weeks ahead of the local elections.

Image source, Jason Fojtik

The town and district councillor Jason Fojtik claims to be the victim of "abuse and bullying" from within the party after publicly disagreeing with the leadership strategy of Jeremy Corbyn.

He was the first Labour councillor to be elected in Stratford since 1974.

He will now stand as an independent in his Clopton ward in the local elections on 5 May.

A West Midlands Labour spokesperson said: "The Labour Party takes any allegations of inappropriate conduct extremely seriously.

"Any specific complaints reported to the party are investigated through our robust and fair procedures".

The jury in the Birmingham pub bombings inquests have been sent home for the night.

They started their deliberations earlier this afternoon after hearing nearly six weeks of evidence.

Deliberations will resume at 10am tomorrow.

Two Tesco delivery lorries have been targeted by thieves who took cigarettes and tobacco.

In the first incident, on Tuesday morning, the lorry's driver noticed someone trying to break into the back of the vehicle while it was parked in a lay-by near Whitchurch in Shropshire.

He drove off, but the thieves drove their car past him, using it to block the road while they took a large amount of goods.

Image source, Getty Images

The second theft took place on Tuesday afternoon while the vehicle was parked at the Tesco Express on Bridge Street in Kidderminster.

Thieves broke a padlock to gain entry and West Mercia Police said it believed that on both occasions a Blue Audi A4 and a white Mercedes sprinter van were involved.

Jurors deliberating in the Birmingham pub bombings inquests must answer specific questions, including about the adequacy of the coded bomb warning given by the attackers, the police's response to the call, and whether the authorities were tipped off about the bombings.

Coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC spent all of Wednesday and part of Thursday summing up evidence which has included testimony from a convicted ex-IRA bomber, the police on duty that night, rescuers, and survivors.

Image source, PA

He has already instructed the jury to return a verdict of unlawful killing.

The 11 members of the panel have sat through almost six weeks of evidence and have been tasked with completing a questionnaire, listing their narrative findings.

Abigail Palmer crushed her two-month-old daughter's ribcage so hard she caused 10 fractures, police say.

A failed asylum seeker who stabbed his estranged wife to death days after she refused to support his application to remain in the country has been jailed for life.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Dana Abdullah pleaded guilty to murdering Avan Najmadeen who was found dead with stab wounds at her home in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, on 1 October.

The Iranian killed his wife with a kitchen knife and covered her body in solvent, the court heard.

At Stafford Crown Court today he was told he will serve a minimum of 18 years and 8 months.

A new bench in memory of University of Worcester student Thomas Jones has been unveiled by his family in the city.

He went missing there during a night out in freshers week and his body was recovered from the River Severn following a search.

The bench is located on Grandstand Road between Sabrina Bridge and Worcester Rowing Club.

In January, coroner Geraint Williams recorded an open verdict, but said he was satisfied the student drowned.

Drivers must learn the "behaviour expected of them" Telford and Wrekin council says.

BBC WM Sport

West Bromwich Albion shouldn't rush into making a new managerial appointment, according to former midfielder Richard Sneekes.

The Baggies are under the caretaker management of Jimmy Shan (pictured above), who has won all three matches since he took charge, after the sacking of Darren Moore.

Ben Godfrey
BBC Midlands Today

A company that managed a Wolverhampton shopping centre has admitted breaching health and safety laws after a piece of timber struck and killed a woman during Storm Doris.

Image source, Facebook

Tahnie Martin was hit by a wooden water tank cover from the roof of the Mander Centre in February 2017.

An inquest into her death found its fixings were corroded and the panel might not have had maintenance for up to 20 years.

Cushman and Wakefield Debenham Tie Leung Ltd - which managed the Mander shopping centre at the time - admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act at Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court today.

The firm will be sentenced next month and faces a substantial fine.

A woman has been jailed for "squeezing" her two-month-old baby to death.

Image source, West Midlands Police

A post-mortem revealed that ten of Terri-Rae's ribs were fractured, police said. The West Midlands force added the examination confirmed she didn't die suddenly, but over a three-hour period when her brain was starved of oxygen.

At Birmingham Crown Court earlier, Abigail Palmer, 33, of Coleburn Road, Solihill, was jailed for 13-and-a-half-years, having been found guilty of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm without intent.

Coventry Live

Some of the headlines on the Coventry Live website today are:

• 'Cafe quarter' project will open up Coventry's hidden river, external
• Chinese automotive giant chooses Coventry as home for new UK design centre, external
• Homeless man's bedding removed from city doorway after council get court order, external

Claimants suffered "multiple fraudulent transactions" after a security breach, solicitors say.

The Tunstall-based pottey firm, Dudson, has gone into adminstration with the loss of 318 jobs.

The GMB Union says the company, which has been making tableware, glassware and fine china since 1800, told workers to collect their belongings and leave this morning.

Image source, Google

The Union said there was no consultation with staff or unions before the collapse and it is now pursuing a claim on behalf of its members.

Shropshire Star

Some of the headlines on the Shropshire Star website are:

• Snow disrupts traffic in Shropshire and Mid Wales, external
• Telford swimming pool forced to shut due to 'insufficient water level', external
• Tougher tests for taxi and private hire drivers in Telford, external