Birmingham Post

Good Nhs Trusts to Bail Out Bad

Health trusts in the Midlands have been told to deposit pounds 187 million into a central NHS Bank to help bail out debt-hit counterparts in the region. The "one-off" plan for primary care trusts has been designed to ensure NHS organisations balance their books by March 2007. Midland hospitals and health care trusts have already run up deficits totalling pounds 85.8 million.

David Cameron

Spy Who Became Probation Officer

A Midland naval officer who confessed to spying for the Russians told his interrogators his wife suggested espionage when they hit a cash-flow crisis, records published today reveal. David Bingham (right), from Stratford-upon-Avon, joined Warwickshire's probation service after serving eight years in prison for selling Royal Navy secrets to the Soviets.

Planners Back Revamp for Martineau Galleries

Martineau Galleries, a pounds 550 million redevelopment of Birmingham city centre, moved a step closer yesterday as planners threw their weight behind the "world class" scheme. Members of the city council planning committee backed the mixed- use project, which will transform a 13.5 acre site at the eastern end of the High Street into shops, flats, offices, a hotel and a landmark 780-foot tower.

Midland: News Digest - Murder Charge

Two men appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of a 20-year-old whose body was found on a grass verge more than three years ago. Adam Joof (25) and Antonio Christie (26) are accused of killing Jamaican-born Kevin Nunes, who was found with gunshot wounds in Clive Road, Pattingham, near Wolverhampton, on September 19 2002.

Midland: News Digest - Light Snack

A 23-year-old Birmingham mother treating herself to a Mars Bar got more than she bargained for as she bit into a light bulb. Michelle Harley was biting off a piece of the bar for her 19- month-old son Keighton, when she realised she was chewing something other than whipped nougat and chocolate.

Midland: News Digest - Sex Attack

Police in Worcestershire are appealing for witnesses after two girls were sexually assaulted. The victims, both aged 16, were subjected to a serious assault by three males in an open area near Forge Mill Needle Museum in Riverside on Monday evening.

Midland: Highest Hopes for New Galleries

Expectations of excellence are running high for Martineau Galleries, the pounds 550 million transformation of a vast rundown site on the eastern edge of Birmingham city centre. City council planners are confident of repeating the success of the Bullring, and with good reason since the Birmingham Alliance, which built the award-winning shopping centre, is also behind Martineau Galleries.

Midland: Social Services Slammed for Not Telling Landlady About Autistic Tenant

Birmingham social services has been criticised for putting an autistic teenager in lodgings without telling his landlady the full extent of his past, including starting a fire in a hostel and self- harming. The department also neglected to carry out progress reviews on the youngster and dragged its heels in making payments for his care to the landlady. A catalogue of "maladministration" by the service was highlighted in a report published yesterday by the local government watchdog, which told...

Midland: We Have No Fears Over Peer Row

Conservative leader David Cameron said the Tories had nothing to hide in nominating a Black Country businessmen for a peerage after he donated money to the party. During a visit to the West Midlands, Mr Cameron said Robert Edmiston, who runs car importers IM Group in West Bromwich, had done a lot for charity and was also a large donor to the Conservative Party.

Midland: Shakespeare Folio has Pounds 3.5m Price Tag

A first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays is to go on sale with an estimated price tag of up to pounds 3.5 million. Described by auction house Sotheby's as "the most important book in English literature", it was printed in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death.

Midland: Mum Was 'Probably Unlawfully Killed'

A young mother who died following an altercation with a gang of youths at a city centre bus stop was probably unlawfully killed, the Birmingham coroner has said. But Aidan Cotter told an inquest he could not record a verdict of unlawful killing because the evidence was not strong enough.

Midland: Teenager Questioned Over Store Toilet Rape

A teenager was due to be questioned yesterday by detectives investigating the rape of an 11-year-old girl who was attacked at a supermarket. Warwickshire Police confirmed that the 15-year-old boy was arrested at an address in Leamington Spa on Wednesday night.

Midland: Boys Save Coma Mother's Life

A pair of brothers have been hailed as heroes after saving their mother's life when she collapsed into a diabetic coma and fell down a flight of stairs. Reece Callaghan, aged eight, and five-year-old Daine poured cola into their mother Tracy's mouth in a frantic bid to revive her as she lay unconscious and bleeding on the floor.

Post Debate: Working Your Way Back Into Society ; Home Secretary Charles Clarke Wants to Increase Dramatically the Number of Community Sentences Given to Convicted Offenders. While It Will Undoubtedly Have the Happy Consequence of Curbing Over- Crowding in Britain's Prisons, Is It a Soft Option for Offenders? Emma Pinch Reports

Ten years from now, if the Home Secretary has his way, the sight of a yellow-jacketed offender cheerfully painting fences will be a familiar sight. No old people's home will be complete without a sensory garden, built by a company of men working at Her Majesty's pleasure, and graffiti will be scrubbed clean almost before it's sprayed.

Post Debate: A Real Deterrent Is What Is Needed ; Deirdre Alden, Conservative Councillor for Birmingham Edgbaston, Believes Community Services Are a Soft Option

In my younger days, I had an experience which few teenage muggers will get any more. I went to prison. Twice. I hasten to add my two trips to jail were not the result of any wrong-doing. I was simply a member of an amateur dramatic group which regularly performed plays at Grendon Underwood Men's Prison.

Post Debate: These Penalties Are Not a Soft Option ; Prof David Wilson, Lecturer in Criminology at Uce and Former Prison Governor, Says Community Penalties Are Not a Soft Punishment

I am a great believer in community penalties. Prisons are an expensive way of making bad people worse. We know that if you put somebody in jail you accelerate their criminality rather than doing something to stop them committing crime.

Post Debate: Asbos Up to Nearly Thousand

A total of 976 anti-social behaviour orders have been handed out in the West Midlands since they were introduced, the Government revealed yesterday. The wide ranging court orders, designed to crack down on troublemakers, were made in the region between April 1999 and December 2005.

Midland: Region's Zeal for Road Pricing

There is "particular enthusiasm" for road pricing in the West Midlands, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said yesterday. Speaking to The Birmingham Post as he opened a new national traffic control centre in Birmingham, Mr Darling warned the region needed to reduce congestion if it was to remain competitive.

Midland: Authorities Will Merge

The region's public transport watchdog and its executive body are to merge to give a more effective voice for passengers. Public transport promoter Centro and the decision-making West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority will now share a single administration. Support for councillors on the PTA was previously carried out by officers from Coventry City Council.