Nick Smith
BBC News Online

Two brothers have been locked up for sexually abusing a young girl more than 40 years ago.

Peter Mackenzie, 57 , and his brother John Mackenzie, 60, subjected a girl to years of abuse when they lived in Leicester in the 1970s.

It ended when the victim was about 15 years old.

Peter, of Borve, Isle of Lewis, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault, six counts of indecency with a child, five counts of rape and one count of causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for 16 years.

His older brother, of Pondthorpe, Coventry, was convicted of five counts of indecency with a child, three counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault and was jailed for 14 years.

In a victim impact statement, read out at Leicester Crown Court, the woman said: "What they have done to me has caused me to have no trust in others, not just men but people in general."

Sentencing, Judge Philip Head said: "What you have done has devastated the whole of your victim's life and continues to do so today."

The defence lawyers for the Mackenzies said they were young at the time of the offences and had lived normal lives since the abuse.

Jimmy Gopperth will miss Wasps' remaining two Premiership games after breaking his thumb on his return from a knee injury.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A five-year-old boy is set to return to school this week after the latest tests showed he's still cancer free, following pioneering treatment in the United States.

Image source, Hannah Oliver-Willetts

Last year, Zac Oliver, from Broseley, Shropshire, was diagnosed with a particularly rare strain of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

He was taken to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in November, after raising £500,000 for travel and treatment.

Zac told his Facebook followers in March he was cancer free but had to return to the USA this month for tests to check if the disease has returned.

In a new post, his mother Hannah Oliver-Willetts , externalsays the results of all but one test have returned - they are clear and, all being well, her son will go back to school on Wednesday.

The M6 was closed in both directions causing delays of at least an hour, Highways England said.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Dare

The government must provide more funding to help fight knife crime, a police boss has said, following a cross-party summit in the West Midlands.

Image source, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Knife Crime met with MPs in Birmingham to discuss innovative approaches to tackling the problem in the region on Friday.

The summit was called after the region experienced one of the country's largest increases in knife crime, with an 85% rise since 2012, and included more than 30 people including MPs, senior police and health service experts and families of victims.

Speaking after the summit, Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson urged the government to put more funding in place to allow the police to tackle the issue head-on.

“Whilst much good work is taking place in our region, the government must now accept that if we are to truly tackle the issue of knife crime then it must put in place the funding to enable that to happen,” he said.

Two other men were found seriously injured near to Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

BBC Sport

Defending Superleague champions Wasps went six points clear at the top of the table with a hard-fought victory over Strathclyde Sirens in Glasgow.

The win guarantees a play-off semi-final at home.

Wasps head coach Mel Mansfield said: "It was an interesting game, we wanted to get through it and build into our semi-final and we did that.

"It's all about the semi-final now for us and we're moving well toward our goals."

Two Co-op stores have been targeted in attempted robberies in Warwickshire over the weekend.

Staff at a Nuneaton shop on Sherbourne Avenue were threatened by a man with a knife at about 20:15 on Saturday night.

Staff were also threatened at a shop on Tamworth Road, Kingsbury shortly after 21:00 on Sunday, but again the offender left empty-handed.

No-one was injured in either incident, said Warwickshire Police, but staff were left shaken.

BBC Weather Watchers

After the grey skies and rain at the end of last week, the blue skies have returned for much of the West Midlands, looking at photos from our local BBC Weather Watchers.

These three are from users Margrose in Bromsgrove. Worcestershire, Dammo in Selly Oak and Mr Twister in Leek, Staffordshire:

Image source, Margrose

Image source, Dammo

Image source, Mr Twister

BBC Sport

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith was relieved "sportsmanship prevailed" as Leeds United allowed his side to equalise in a controversial 1-1 draw.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder says his Leeds counterpart Marcelo Bielsa deserves "full respect" for allowing Aston Villa to score an unopposed equaliser which eventually meant the Blades promotion to the Premier League was confirmed.

Having been held for the first time since the 1-1 draw at Stoke in February, although still unbeaten in 12 games, Villa's failure to win means that they now cannot catch fourth-placed West Bromwich Albion and look almost certain to finish fifth in the Championship.

Police have named a driver who died when his car crashed off the M6 just over a week ago.

Daniel Brett-Somers, 34, from Shrewsbury was driving a blue Range Rover Evoque, which came to rest in a field near Southwaite Services, just south of Carlisle, just after 23:00 on 21 April.

No other vehicle is thought to have been involved and police have renewed an appeal for witnesses.

Worcester News

The Worcester News is covering these stories today:

• Sex offender jailed after breaching restraining order, external
• Figures show crime decline in West Mercia area, external
• Driver blames police for speeding ticket, external

The funeral has been taking place in Birmingham for musician Roger Charlery, better known as Ranking Roger, who died last month.

As part of The Beat, Charlery spearheaded the two-tone movement with a distinctive vocal style influenced by the Jamaican rap technique of toasting.

Fellow musician, and wife of The Specials founder member Neville Staple, Christine 'Sugary' Staple posted an image of the funeral cortege on Instagram, external, paid tribute, signing off "until next time".

The Beat enjoyed several top 10 hits, most famously Mirror in the Bathroom - the first digitally recorded single released in the UK.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A police force has admitted it has "more work to do" after a watchdog said it failed to link nearly half the reports of stalking about a woman's ex-partner before she killed herself.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Nicholas Allen was jailed for 10 years in 2017 for the manslaughter of Justene Reece, who killed herself as a "direct result" of his controlling behaviour.

An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found Staffordshire Police officers missed the "bigger picture" of his offending.

The force said it has made improvements since then but is committed to make more and is buying a computer system which shows the history of cases in one place., external

Artwork celebrating Wolverhampton's landmarks and history has been unveiled at the city's railway station.

Image source, West Midlands Trains

The artwork created by local student Coree Bridgen includes references to Molineux, Prince Albert’s Statue, a giant wolf, the Black Country flag and Banks's Park Brewery - where Coree's grandfather worked for more than 30 years.

The hoarding will remain on display until the autumn.

Image source, West Midlands Trains

£150m is currently being spent on a new transport hub at the station with the first phase of work is due to be completed this autumn – with the project due to be fully completed next year.

The driver of a flatbed lorry which was involved in a crash with an HGV on the M6 has suffered serious injuries, the ambulance service says.

The man was cut free from his cab by fire crews before being taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The motorway was closed for a time to allow the air ambulance to land on the southbound carriageway.

The northbound carriageway has since reopened, but the motorway is closed southbound from J9 to J8, with long delays of at least an hour in the area.

Worcester Warriors sign London Scottish tight-head prop Richard Palframan for the 2019-20 season.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

A man who police say attacked officers and kicked the wing mirror off a police car has been jailed for eight weeks.

Cheshire Police says Connor Lamph threw a bike wheel at one of their cars earlier this month while it was driving to an emergency call. , external

When officers later tracked him down, they say he kicked the mirror off the vehicle, kicked an officer and, later while in custody, headbutted two officers.

The 23-year-old from Nutfield Avenue, Crewe, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency service worker, one of criminal damage and one of use of threatening and abusive language.

An injured driver has had to be cut free from his vehicle after a serious crash involving two lorries on the M6.

The man was taken to hospital suffering injuries to his legs, said the fire service.

Crews were initially called to the southbound carriageway shortly after 11:40.

The carriageway is closed from J9 to J8 southbound and J7 to J9 northbound near Birmingham.

Police investigating a triple stabbing in Wolverhampton are asking the third victim to come forward.

Image source, Google

Two men were found with serious knife wounds on North Street near Wolverhampton Civic Hall, just after midnight on Saturday.

A third man sustained a cut to his hand but fled the scene before officers arrived, said West Midlands Police.

Officers believe he sought medical treatment at the city triage centre before leaving in a taxi.

Two men remain in hospital in a serious but stable condition.