Robert Owens murdered his 75-year-old mother Iris Owens as she was putting out washing.

BBC Weather Watchers

Here's another collection from the BBC Weather Watchers today, including this colourful photo of a butterfly, taken near Hednesford.

Image source, Thornhill Watch

Image source, Poetic Verse

Image source, STFC Goose

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Here are some more stories covered by our Local Democracy Service reporters today:

• Horse grazing land in Dawley could have houses built on it, after councillors granted outline planning permission.
• A community-run shop in Tibberton, which won a Queen's Award two years ago, has been granted permanent status after years on temporary planning permission.
• Independent assessors say Wolverhampton’s troubled Civic Halls refurbishment project was not adequately managed, resulting in long delays and spiralling costs.

Wolves players still have plenty of work to do if they're to win their first European tie in nearly 40 years, said the manager.

The team is in Belfast to play Crusaders after winning the home leg 2-0 a week ago.

Nuno Espirito Santo has said his players must "adapt and perform" on the north Belfast side's artificial pitch, which they trained on at Seaview on Wednesday.

"Some of the players don't have that experience," said Nuno.

"[But] they assure me that with water it's almost like natural grass."

The winners of the tie will meet either Czech side FK Jablonec or Armenia's Pyunik in the third round of qualifying.

Hereford Times

Here are some of the top stories on the Hereford Times website:

• Driver was 15 times over drugs limit, external
• Crash which killed Ledbury Primary School deputy head was caused by flat tyre, external
• Old tattoo needles for sale... once used on Stone Roses, external

Four starting pistols have been handed in to police in Birmingham as part of a firearms surrender.

The Rev Christopher Parkes, from Burntwood Methodist Church in Birmingham, gave the weapons in after they had been stored in a safe for at least 12 years, West Midlands Police said.

Mr Parkes said the guns had been handed in "so they don't get into the hands of criminals or other people where they can be used for the wrong purposes".

How is a firearm surrender different from a gun amnesty?

Unlike an "amnesty", weapons may be tested to see if they've been used in a crime. While people won't be prosecuted for previously owning the guns, they may face charges if they can be tied to a crime.

A 23-year-old woman has been convicted of murdering her two young daughters because they "got in the way" of her sex life.

Louise Porton from Rugby had denied killing three-year-old Lexi Draper and 17-month-old Scarlett Vaughan, but was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court after a five-week trial.

The court heard both girls had symptoms consistent with deliberate airway obstruction.

Image source, Other

The jury was told Porton, who also lived in Walsall, had searched the internet for phrases such as "can you actually die if you have a blocked nose and cover your mouth with tape" and "five weird things that happen when you die".

It also heard that when Lexi was ill in hospital, she took topless photos in the toilets and was arranging to perform sex acts for money with a man she had met through a website.

On the day Lexi died, her mum accepted 41 friend requests on a dating app, the court heard.

Porton is due to be sentenced on Friday.

Council pitch grass cutter Jimmy the Mower visits home of English football after a tweet went viral.

Plans for three new rail stations in Birmingham have moved a step closer after the project was awarded £15m from the Department for Transport.

Image source, West Midlands Rail Executive

Under proposals, the Camp Hill line would reopen to passenger services for the first time since World War Two.

Planning applications are set to be submitted for the Kings Heath and Hazelwell Stations, with Moseley set to follow later in the year.

Image source, West Midlands Rail Executive

Plans are being jointly developed by the West Midlands Rail Executive, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), West Midlands Railway and Network Rail.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said the development would "provide residents with easier and faster connections to get to the places they need to go and will offer people a real alternative to the car – helping to ease congestion and improving the air we breathe".

BBC Sport

The european journey isn't over for The New Saints, despite failing to make the group stages of the Champions League.

They now drop into the third qualifying round for the Europa League and will play the winners of tonight's tie between Ludogorets of Bulgaria or Valur of Iceland.

The second leg of that match kicks off at 18:30 in Bulgaria tonight and is level at 1-1 after the first leg.

The third round qualifiers start with an away game for TNS on 8 August.

Plans have been approved to turn a key site for the 2022 Commonwealth Games into a major housing development, external, once the world's athletes have left Birmingham.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The Perry Barr site, which is being turned into the athletes village, will eventually be demolished to make way for 400-500 new homes, public open spaces and a new secondary school.

Birmingham City Council said it would "transform" the area, between Holford Drive and Aldridge Road, bringing housing, infrastructure and jobs.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Local Democracy Reporting Service
George Makin

Council bosses in Sandwell have admitted that they have "lost" a £10,000 tractor.

The ride-on unit went missing earlier this year and despite a search and a police investigation its location remains a mystery.

The tale of the disappearing tractor came to light at a meeting of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, where councillors and independent board members discussed the authority’s annual internal audit.

It stated a review of the grounds maintenance service was carried out after concerns the small ride-on tractor had gone missing.

It added the vehicle was purchased in February 2016 and visits and checks had been made to parks, buildings and satellite depots to try to locate it and the matter had been reported to the police.

But the report added: “However, due to the poor audit trail within the council, we understand that the police have since closed the case."

Stoke-on-Trent Live

Here are three stories from the Stoke-on-Trent Live website today:

• Scrapmen find body of missing man inside garage, external
• Speed cameras have gone up on the A500, external
• Fears drug gang culture is taking over, external

A number of oil containers have been dumped in a field near Kemberton in Shropshire.

Oil has been seen leaking out from one of the drums and the person who took these photos, Martyn Bidgood, said Shropshire Council had been informed.

Image source, Martyn Bidgood

Image source, Martyn Bidgood

BBC Hereford and Worcester

The unpredictable weather could have an effect on on this year's British plum harvest, the organisers of the Pershore Plum Festival have warned.

Angela Taylor, the chair of the festival, said "there appears to have been a problem back at blossom time" and "the crops aren't anywhere near as good as we've had them in the past".

Image source, Getty Images

One of the most popular varieties, the Victoria plum "has been quite badly affected" Taylor said, but she believed that while the Pershore varieties will be smaller than usual because of the lack of rain earlier in the year, they haven't been as badly hit.

League One side Burton Albion sign Leeds United striker Oliver Sarkic on a one-year contract.

Six people are now known to have died after eating pre-packed sandwiches and salads linked to a listeria outbreak.

A total of nine people became ill after eating contaminated food at eight different hospitals.

Image source, Google

The outbreak was initially linked to sandwiches produced by The Good Food Chain in Stone, but the Food Standards Agency later said its inquiry would examine one of its suppliers.

The Good Food Chain was eventually allowed to resume production, but it went out of business, saying the strain of suspending production during the inquiry had been too great.

Another eight people have now been arrested over violence in Stoke-on-Trent last week.

It brings the total arrested to 14, with four of them arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Five men needed hospital treatment, and one is still in hospital after disorder on Sun Street in Shelton last Thursday afternoon

Staffordshire Police says all 14 suspects have been released on conditional bail until the end of the month.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

Birmingham City Council is facing a £17.4m black hole in its budget this year, it has been revealed.

A host of reasons, ranging from bins to Brexit, have been listed in a financial monitoring report which forecasts the sum after just three months.

However, council finance bosses remain assured that mitigations can be found and the budget, worth about £852m overall, will be balanced by the end of the year without dipping into reserves.

The street scene department accounts for £5.5m of the predicted overspend, largely down to a £3m cost of repairing and maintaining broken bin lorries or hiring replacements.

Parking in two Shrewsbury car parks will be free on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August.

Shropshire Council says it's making the move to encourage more people into the town centre during a tough period for traders.