Shekquarn Fitzgerald, 19, wounded four people in Selby when he swung the weapon "like a lightsaber".

BBC Sport

Warwickshire's Chris Woakes has returned to the England side for the fourth test against South Africa in Johannesburg.

He's replacing Dom Bess in the side and after a rain-delayed start his county team mate Dom Sibley is opening the batting with Zac Crawley.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier Sibley used a review to overturn an incorrect caught behind decision while he was on 10 runs and England are now 55-0.

England are 2-1 up in the four-match series.

A teenager who attacked four men with a machete in a scene "like something from a film” has been jailed for 10 years.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Shekquarn Fitzgerald (above left) was seen swinging the weapon "like a lightsabre in Star Wars” as he stabbed and slashed at the men during the attack.

North Yorkshire Police said one man suffered a slash wound to his ear while another had been cut to the bone through his right bicep.

The incident (pictured below) happened on Micklegate in Selby in the early hours of 5 August 2018.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Fitzgerald (marked above with a yellow triangle), 19, of Bond Street, Birmingham, was jailed at York Crown Court for 10 years, after pleading guilty to four counts of wounding with intent.

Accomplice 24-year-old Benjamin Wilson (marked below with a blue triangle) of Arthur Street, Birmingham, (below right) was jailed for two years, for dangerous driving, handling stolen goods and having a machete in a public place.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Organisers say they have lost their main sponsor without whom they will struggle to fund the event.

Forest Green sign Mansfield goalkeeper Conrad Logan, Birmingham midfielder Odin Bailey and Oxford forward Rob Hall on loan.

The BBL Cup will have a new name on the trophy this weekend when Worcester and Bristol face off in Birmingham.

BBC Weather Watchers

It's been another cloudy and misty start to the day, but not as bad as it was yesterday.

Here you can see parts of Church Stretton beneath the cloud in this photo from BBC Weather Watcher Peter Steggles.

So that's an improvement.

Image source, Peter Steggles

And this might be clutching at straws, but there are blue skies around Shrewsbury and grey cloud over the Mersey.

Could this be an omen for the FA Cup tie between Shrewsbury Town and Liverpool on Sunday?

Probably not.

Image source, STFC Goose

Image source, Aspud

A man was stabbed in the back of the head as he was assaulted during attack at a property in Smethwick, police say.

The 28-year-old is still in hospital with the stab wound, as well as several other injuries.

Officers were called to the scene on Montague Road at about 21:00 on Thursday.

West Midlands Police is asking for anyone with information to come forward.

A Birmingham woman, found guilty of murdering her husband after a row at her home last year, will spend at least 10 years in jail.

Deborah Carroll, 54 and from Alwold Court, Barnes Hill, Selly Oak, stabbed John Carroll on 2 April.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court took nearly four days to deliver their verdict on Thursday.

In court today Carroll was jailed for life.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

Up to 9,000 basketball fans are expected to watch Worcester Wolves play in the BBL Cup Final on Sunday.

They are taking on Bristol Flyers at Arena Birmingham, and are looking for their first major trophy since 2014.

Image source, BBL

The Wolves reached the final two seasons ago and head coach Matt Newby said he expected a good day for the fans, with both teams "loaded with young, emerging talent".

Shropshire Star

Here are three of the stories being covered on the Shropshire Star website today:

• Illegal parking signs put up in Shrewsbury, external
• 48 per cent knife crime increase shock, external
• Residents to have say on power station site, external

Facebook

Many of you have been commenting on the BBC Midlands Facebook, external page after hundreds of bikers turned out to the funeral of a three-year-old boy in Leamington Spa.

Romeo Ferreira, who loved motorbikes, died of a brain tumour last month.

Marion 'Maz' Burke posted: "Such a sad sight seeing the coffin of poor little Romeo. :( It was a fantastic turn out of respect from the bikers and, I hope, may give Romeo's family some comfort."

John Washbrook commented: "Well done ladies and gentlemen of the bikers world you didn't let the little boy down I'm very proud of you all R.I.P little man."

And Jillian Smith said: "What an amazing gesture see there is more good in the world than bad - well done bikers - May you rest in eternal peace little one."

Staffordshire MPs say they want more investment in local bus services.

They've been discussing the issue in Parliament and the MP for the Staffordshire Moorlands, Karen Bradley described the public transport network as "woeful", with some services only running twice a day.

She said conversations with bus companies and local authorities showed a lack of funding and a lack of profitability were to blame.

Image source, UK Parliament

Although considerably better in Stoke-on-Trent, local MP Jack Brereton, who called the debate, said bus services were often "too few, too slow and too infrequent".

He said cuts to services left the most vulnerable in society and those looking for work cut off.

Mr Brereton said opening up old railway stations in the area, taken out of action during the 1960s Beeching cuts, could also help the wider public transport network.

The government says it's committed to making sure there's equal access to services and employment, and good public buses are at the heart of it.

The decision to install x-ray body scanners at HMP Hewell in Worcestershire has been welcomed by the Prison Officers Association.

The jail near Redditch is one of 16 jails receiving the technology which will be used to scan prisoners as they arrive.

Mark Fairhurst is the national chair of the Prison Officers' Association, said: "We work in the most hostile work environment in Western Europe, which is rife with drugs, weapons and illicit mobile phones." and that the scanners would improve safety for his members.

Peter Plisner
BBC Midlands Today

Work to repair a stretch of the M5 in the West Midlands should be finished in the next fortnight, according to Highways England.

The Oldbury Viaduct works, along a two-mile stretch of the M5, were originally due to be finished by autumn 2018.

But Highways England said the project was delayed after the number of repairs needed had quadrupled from 3,000 to 12,000.

The cost's also risen from £184m to almost £200m.

Birmingham Live

From Birmingham Live:

• St Patrick's Day Parade 2020 faces axe after main sponsor pulls out, external
• Woman stabbed husband in chest after drunken row, external
• Man who brutally attacked woman with didgeridoo jailed, external

Part of Coventry Cathedral's famous West Screen, featuring carvings of saints and angels, has been smashed in a robbery.

Cash was stolen from the collection box during the robbery overnight.

Dean of Coventry, John Witcombe said: "We are appalled by the damage to one of Coventry's best-loved buildings.

"We are pleased that a recent government grant enabled us to install CCTV cameras throughout the site and we will be examining footage of the evening to identify those responsible

The smashed glass is part of a screen depicting 66 figures that took artist John Hutton 10 years to create, said the cathedral.

Image source, Coventry City Council

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The Shrewsbury Town chief executive Brian Caldwell has said the club could have sold out their stadium three times over for the Liverpool FA Cup match on Sunday.

But he said ticket sales "don't generate a massive revenue", after things like VAT and "quite considerable costs" are subtracted.

Shrewsbury have kept ticket prices at normal League One prices, saying they wanted to "reward loyal fans" and all the tickets were sold to fans who had season tickets or loyalty points for attending previous games.

Mr Caldwell said the challenge for the club after this game would be "trying to get more people here regularly".

BBC Business News

Marston's seems to have enjoyed a decent Christmas.

The Wolverhampton-based brewer, which also runs pubs and hotels, said like-for-like sales over the festive fortnight, were up 4.5% on the same period a year ago.

Image source, Marston's

Food sales were weaker in its pubs though, and the first three weeks of December saw "subdued trading" because of bad weather.

Bosses also warned the planned rise in the National Minimum Wage from April is likely to affect the company's profits.

The company said the 6.2% increase to £8.72 an hour for workers 25 years old and above and a 6.5% increase for those aged 21 to 24, is "higher than anticipated" and would increase second half-year costs by a further £2m.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Businesses in Stoke-on-Trent say the area is being flooded with fake £5 notes.

One trader, Paul Clarke from Household Discounts in Smallthorne, said he's getting between eight and 10 of the notes every day.

The manager of Savers in Tunstall, Kyle Simpson, said he's had more than £100 worth of the fake notes handed over in his shop.

Here you can see a fake note pictured above a real one.

Image source, LDRS

The co-owner of the Ravenous café in Smallthorne, David Morrey, said: "We had three on Wednesday, one on Tuesday, and loads last week – and they are the ones we know about."

He said the notes were difficult to spot, but his staff were now checking more thoroughly.

The main difference, according to the shopkeepers, is that the fake notes have markings which are easily scratched off with a coin.