Summary

  • Updates from Monday 2 March to Sunday 8 March

  1. Court backlog of more than 1,100 casespublished at 11:13 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    BBC Radio Shropshire

    Coronavirus has created a backlog of more than 1,100 criminal cases in courts across Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

    According to figures seen by the BBC, the caseload of Crown courts in West Mercia is now almost two thirds bigger than at the start of the pandemic, with some cases delayed by years.

    Worcester Crown Court

    A spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice said it had kept the justice system moving, with urgent cases such as domestic abuse being prioritised.

  2. GP tells of recovery from two-month Covid comapublished at 10:52 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    Dr Anushua Gupta describes saying final goodbyes to her family before being placed on life support.

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  3. Indian variant cases found at schoolpublished at 09:41 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    Families with school-age children in Newport are being urged to get a Covid-19 test.

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  4. Outline approval given for Ironbridge power station site planspublished at 09:24 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    Proposals to redevelop the former Ironbridge power station site and build up to 1,000 homes have been given outline approval.

    Ironbridge cooling towers before demolition

    Telford and Wrekin councillors voted unanimously to give outline permission for the plans.

    The power station's four cooling towers were demolished in 2019 with other structures taken down since.

    The proposals also include plans for a retirement village, a primary and nursery school, allotments and commercial use.

    They will go on to Shropshire Council for a final say at a later date.

  5. Ex-officer 'not the kind of person who should have policing role'published at 09:05 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    A former West Midlands Police officer has been barred from returning to the force.

    Oliver Banfield had previously been sentenced by magistrates after he admitted assaulting Emma Homer in Warwickshire last July while drunk.

    At an accelerated misconduct hearing yesterday, Banfield, 35, who had subsequently resigned, was told he will be will be added to a College of Policing record to ensure he is unable to rejoin the police service.

    Oliver BanfieldImage source, Sally Homer

    Following the hearing, the force's Deputy Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said: “I recognise the distress Emma Homer – who was assaulted and verbally abused by Banfield – has suffered during this time; the actions of this former officer were completely unacceptable.

    “I was as disgusted by the behaviour of Banfield as anyone. He is clearly not the kind of person who should ever have a role in policing.”

  6. Fallen tree causing railway delayspublished at 08:43 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    A fallen tree on the railway near Rowley Regis is causing delays.

    Services are delayed between Stourbridge Junction and Birmingham stations.

    In a post on Twitter, Birmingham New Street station said a team was on site and preparing to move the fallen tree.

  7. Ten cases of Indian Covid-19 variant identifiedpublished at 08:33 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    The cases in Stafford, Tamworth and east of the county are linked to households, the council says.

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  8. Weather forecast: Drier with higher than average temperaturespublished at 08:15 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    Shefali Oza
    BBC Midlands Today

    Today might be a little drier than the past few days, with top temperatures of 17C.

    Media caption,

    Shefali Oza with the latest forecast

  9. Hospital medical services rated inadequatepublished at 06:20 British Summer Time 19 May 2021

    A trust is given a warning notice over concerns around staffing and governance.

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  10. Council ordered to improve over childcare failingspublished at 21:48 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    A government notice comes after a court ruled three children were "utterly failed".

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  11. Ex-officer who attacked woman banned from policingpublished at 20:44 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    A hearing finds "immature" Oliver Banfield committed gross misconduct when he assaulted Emma Homer.

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  12. Railway station roof collapse disrupts servicespublished at 20:36 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    Network Rail says there will be disruption until Wednesday evening due to debris on the line.

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  13. Former regiment to get arboretum memorialpublished at 17:40 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    Two former soldiers succeed in getting a Cheshire Regiment memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum.

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  14. Mum's attack left newborn baby brain damagedpublished at 17:13 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    Sarah Ngaba is jailed for 14 years for the assault on her seven-week-old daughter.

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  15. Bowler Miles extends Warwickshire staypublished at 15:19 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    Fast bowler Craig Miles signs a new deal which will keep him at Warwickshire until at least the end of the 2023 season.

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  16. Project to make rivers clean enough to swim inpublished at 15:14 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    The River Teme in Shropshire and the River Leam in Warwickshire will be cleaned up, to make the water clean enough to swim in.

    Severn Trent is planning to spend £78m on the work and aims to reduce the amount of waste getting in to the rivers.

    The money will be spent on a number of projects, which will focus on reducing the amount of discharge from storm overflows, installing disinfection processes at three water treatment works, more river quality monitoring and more work to advise farmers on run-off from fields.

    River Teme in Ludlow

    The work has been welcomed by the MP for Ludlow, Philip Dunne, who introduced a Private Members Bill last year, calling for action on sewage pollution.

    He said: "I am hopeful that these £78m pilots will show not only an improvement in water quality for wild swimming, which is becoming increasingly popular, but also wider ecological benefit to the Teme.”

  17. Rugby League player cleared of punching partnerpublished at 15:11 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    Anthony Gelling told the court he was trying to stop his then-partner reversing their car into him.

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  18. Trial date set for nurse accused of baby murderspublished at 12:55 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    Lucy Letby is accused of killing eight babies while working on a hospital neonatal unit.

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  19. Hit-and-run driver has jail sentence increasedpublished at 12:51 British Summer Time 18 May 2021

    A hit-and-run driver who admitted causing the death of a grandmother by dangerous driving has had his jail term increased.

    Krishna Devi Droch, 62, was struck by a Vauxhall Zafira travelling on the wrong side of the road in Handsworth, Birmingham, on 9 November 2017.

    In March, Mohammed Ishfaq, 34, from Leonard Road, Lozells, was jailed for six years and three months and disqualified from driving for 10 years.

    But Court of Appeal judges have ruled Ishfaq had been given an unduly lenient sentence.

    Mohammed IshfaqImage source, West Midlands Police

    His jail sentence was increased to eight years.

    Krishna Devi DrochImage source, Family handout