A man has been found guilty of trying to make a bomb to be used in a driverless car.

Image source, Julia Quenzler

Farhad Salah, of Brunswick Road, Sheffield, was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court of preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

Jurors heard how Salah, 24, an Iraqi Kurd, posted on social media about using a driverless car in an attack.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on his co-defendant, chip-shop owner Andy Star, who was charged with the same offence.

Prosecutors told the trial how Salah and Mr Star, 32, were in the early stages of testing small improvised explosive devices when they were arrested in raids on their homes in a Sheffield community centre and a Chesterfield fish and chip shop in December 2017

Mr Star, from Chesterfield, has always insisted gunpowder and other items found in his flat above the chip shop were all connected to his long-standing interest in fireworks.

Salah is due to be sentenced on 24 July.

Neil Heath
BBC News Online

Nottinghamshire County Council is aiming to allow roadside verges to "flourish" to help wildlife after a motion was accepted at a full council meeting.

The authority had been running a trial cutting back on grass mowing at a handful of roadside sites in the county.

At the meeting, the motion put forward will look into the feasibility of a number of measures that could help the natural environment.

This includes only cutting a small strip of vegetation along road verges annually to maintain safe sight lines for traffic.

The council will also review its weed spraying policy and whether their strategy of cutting back trees and hedgerows should be "less aggressive".

Nottinghamshire could also see more trees being planted to increase greenery and improve air quality.

The measures could be implemented permanently if approved by the council's policy committee later in the year.

David Pittam
BBC News Online

A van driver has been arrested following the death of a 66-year-old man who was killed in a crash on a Derby road.

Derbyshire Police said the crash - between a blue VW Transporter van and a white VW Crafter van - occurred at 11:10 on Wednesday on the northbound side of the A38 prior to the Kingsway island.

The force said the blue van left the carriageway after colliding with the white van.

Image source, Google

The driver of the blue van, from Walsall, was pronounced dead at the scene. His family has been informed.

The white van driver, a 56-year-old from Somercotes, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has since been released under investigation.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Rob Sissons
East Midlands Today Reporter

A dad had to deliver his daughter at home while being talked through it by an ambulance call handler.

Baby Lottie was born on a kitchen floor at the family home in Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire, because her labour, a day over the due date, was so short, there wasn't time to get her mum Becca Clarke to hospital.

Dad Adam Sinnott and his mother Julie had to cut the umbilical cord with a shoelace after the ambulance call handler told them not to cut it with a knife.

Mrs Clarke said: "Adam was amazing, so focused. Everyone keeps saying it's something that happens in EastEnders, not in Cotgrave."

According to the Baby Centre, one in every 200 pregnancies end in an "emergency home birth" - where the baby arrives too suddenly to get to hospital - and mostly on a second pregnancy.

BBC Radio Nottingham

The organisers of a Nottinghamshire traveller horse fair say they're shocked at a councillor's claims the event is like a "biblical plague".

Conservative councillor for Nuthall Philip Owen made the comments at a Nottinghamshire County Council meeting as the event is due to return to a site off the M1 later this month.

He claimed one such event in April led to businesses closing and anti-social behaviour.

He added: "There will be a cloud of fear descending over Nuthall."

A fellow councillor walked out because of Mr Owen's comments.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the last event in April passed largely without incident.

Mick Davidson, who promotes the fair, said: "If he looks back [to last time] - where was there any destruction?

"Why would he say that? To me it's racist actually."

East Midlands Today

Air ambulance bosses say paying to dispose of people's junk fly-tipped at a Derbyshire donation centre could have financed 10 life-saving missions.

A number of items have been dumped in piles outside The Hanger, the charity's donation superstore in Alfreton, including dirty nappies, old tights and pots of used paint.

In April, they had to spend nearly £1,000 disposing of it - the equivalent of 11,000 miles of fuel.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

It will be mostly dry and cloudy, although there's the odd chance of showers later on and possibly even the rumble of some thunder.

Philip Cocu makes Everton's England Under-21 midfielder Kieran Dowell his first signing as Derby manager.

Proceeds from a 'Notts County' turnstile in the Magpies' friendly at Ilkeston Town will be used to help unpaid staff.

Jesus Matos Sanchez left a suicide note after he killed his wife saying he acted in "self-defence".

Vanessa George was jailed in 2009 for abusing toddlers and swapping indecent images on the internet.

A Somerset woman welcomes a government review into benefits for the terminally ill.

A beekeeper has told how he managed to remove a swarm of bees that landed on a street of parked cars in a city centre.

Kit Sandeman
Local Democracy Reporter

There were heated scenes this morning after a councillor described a traveller horse fair in his patch as a "biblical plague".

Nuthall Conservative councillor Philip Owen made the comment at a Nottinghamshire County Council meeting, as it is planned to return to a site off the M1 later this month.

He said: "There will be a cloud of fear descending over Nuthall.

"It's highly likely that shops will be closed, there will be some people who are not prepared to leave their homes."

He added they had had to "endure" it before but this time with better weather, "they are expecting five to 10 thousand" over the five days.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the last such event in April passed largely without incident, and organisers said they had left the site "spotless".

During Mr Owen's speech, the deputy leader of Broxtowe Borough Council - councillor Steve Carr of the Liberal Democrats - stormed out the room, calling councillor Owen’s comments "disgusting".

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

The parents of a three-year-old boy, who fell 6m (19ft 8in) down a hole in the Peak District, have said they "owe everything" to the staff that saved him.

Sam Tuckett was walking with his parents, brother and sister in Hathersage in March when he vanished down the 40cm wide opening in the ground - a gap no bigger than a sheet of A3 paper.

Image source, The Children’s Hospital Charity

His father Mark managed to get him out but he was bleeding heavily after hitting his head on rocks.

Louise Tuckett, Sam's mother, said: "I was frantically flagging down any passersby in the hope one of them would be a doctor or nurse and be able to help, but none of them were."

They managed to carry Sam to the nearest road where they got into an ambulance, which took him to Sheffield Children's Hospital.

Image source, The Children’s Hospital Charity

It was found Sam had suffered a major trauma with blood collecting between his skull and brain. He also broke his arm.

He has since been discharged from hospital and Mrs Tuckett said her son has no memory of the accident.

She said: "We owe everything to every member of staff who helped our family."

The family is now backing a fundraising appeal to transform the emergency department at the hospital.

Detectives want to hear from anyone who saw a man acting suspiciously and carrying bags in Chesterfield.

Complaints were made as two men dress as Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder for a town parade.

East Midlands Today

Residents have said they heard two large bangs in a shooting on their suburban street which left two men needing hospital treatment.

About 10 houses have been cordoned in Stephenson Drive, Leicester, after gunshots were reported at a property at 02:00.

Two men were discovered with gunshot wounds and are now in hospital. Their injuries aren’t thought to be life-threatening.

East Midlands Today

A rising Nottingham piano star will present part of the BBC's Proms at the Royal Albert Hall this summer.

Isata Kanneh-Mason, 23 - whose music studies were paid for by Sir Elton John - is the older sister of award-winning cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who performed at the royal wedding.

Sheku will play with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the London venue on August 22 and Isata will present the performance, making her TV presenting debut.

Image source, PA

David Pittam
BBC News Online

A motorcyclist who died in a crash on the A6 near Rowsley last weekend has been named.

Richard McSherry, 46, from Glossop, Derbyshire, died following the collision between a black Aprilia motorbike and a grey Audi A6 estate just before 16:30 on Sunday.

Derbyshire Police are looking to identify the rider of a dark-coloured Suzuki Hayabusa which was seen travelling along the A6 from Rowsley at the time of the crash.

Image source, Google

A force spokeswoman said: "This person may have witnessed the incident and may be able to help our inquiries."