Birmingham Post

Censored: Staff Website Critical of Council Pay Cuts Is Barred

Birmingham City Council was at the centre of a bitter censorship row last night after officials banned staff from accessing a website set up to exchange information about a controversial programme of pay cuts. An unknown employee in the planning department is the brains behind birminghamsinglestatus.co.uk - which invites more than 40,000 workers to write about the impact of the council's pay and grading review.

Police Wait for Donation Report

The Electoral Commission last night referred the row over Labour's disguised donations to the Metropolitan Police "for further investigation". The commission will submit its formal report today and Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said last night: "The next step is for us to receive and review their referral report."

'Christianophobia' Is a Uk Problem

Christians are suffering persecution and prejudice in the United Kingdom, a West Midlands MP has claimed. While Muslim organisations complain about Islamophobia, Christians are suffering from "rising Christianophobia", according to Mark Pritchard (Con The Wrekin). He has secured a Commons debate next week in which MPs will discuss the problem.

T-Mobile

Harsh Lessons for Absent Pupils ; Society

Teenagers who refuse to stay on in education when the leaving age rises to 18 will be forced to attend weekend detention centres under plans published yesterday. The punishment would involve sending teenagers to "attendance centres" for three hours on Saturdays in order to deprive them of their leisure time and restrict their liberty.

Police On Hunt for Mobile Home ; Crime

Police are appealing for witnesses after a pounds 10,000 mobile home was stolen from in front of the driver's Worcestershire home. The Volkswagen, a white vehicle with two blue stripes on the side, was taken from a driveway in The Beeches, Upton on Severn, between 11pm on Wednesday and early yesterday.

Builder's Tumble ; 999

A man who fell 6ft through a roof on a Wolverhampton building site was last night recovering. The man, in his sixties, fell on a site in Great Bridge Estates, in Bushbury, just before 3pm yesterday.

Streetsmart

As the annual round of Christmas parties begins, Birmingham restaurants are asking you to spare a thought for the city's homeless. Almost 20 of Birmingham's favourite eating places are supporting the StreetSmart scheme, by asking their customers for a donation of pounds 1 on each table's bill.

New Date Set for New Street to Be Confirmed

Confirmation of the final pounds 236 million lump sum for the redevelopment of New Street Station is now due in mid-January. It means contracts can be signed and work on the transformation of Birmingham's rail station can begin next year.

Inventor Per Finn Neilson Demonstrates

Police Silent Over Mccann Meeting

Forensic experts from Portugal and the UK met yesterday to discuss DNA samples collected for the Madeleine McCann inquiry. A four-strong team from the Portuguese investigation team arrived at Leicestershire Police headquarters, in Enderby, for a six-and-a- half-hour meeting with specialists from the Birmingham-based Forensic Science Service.

Fire Alert As Stove Left On in German Market Hut

A wooden hut in Birmingham's German Market was just seconds away from going up in flames after a stove was left on inside. West Midlands Fire Service were called to the market on Wednesday, at 10.40pm after receiving reports of smoke coming from one of the stalls close to the city's Council House.

Judge Demands Answers On Knife-Wielding Rapist

A judge has demanded to know why a mentally ill knife-wielding man who carried out a "horrific" rape in Birmingham was still out on the streets after being involved in a serious incident involving another woman just weeks earlier. Judge Peter Ross's comments came before he made a hospital order without restriction of time on Mickael Cunningham who had previously been convicted of rape and affray and had also pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon.

Pensioner Charged with Alum Rock Teen Murder

A 70-year-old man appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of a teenage girl whose body was discovered in Birmingham allotments in 1961. The body of 15-year-old Jacqueline Marie Thomas was found in Bordesley Green on August 25, 46 years ago. She is believed to have been sexually assaulted and strangled with an underskirt, West Midlands Police said.

Paediatrician Faces Panel After Mother Was Jailed

A paediatrician who wrongly accused a mother of drugging and murdering her son had a "zealous enthusiasm and conviction he was right," the General Medical Council heard yesterday. Dr David Southall, 59, is currently appearing before a GMC fitness to practise panel in London. He faces a misconduct charge and being struck off after being found to have wrongly accused a grieving mother - Mrs M - of drugging and murdering her 10-year-old son, who hanged himself in 1996.

High Court to Rule On Pub Tv Football

A pub licensee asked the High Court yesterday to rule in a test case that she did not commit a crime when she used a Greek broadcaster - rather than the more expensive domestic broadcaster BSkyB - to show live English Premier League football matches to her customers. Karen Murphy, who runs the Red, White and Blue pub at Southsea, Hampshire, was convicted under laws designed to prevent criminal copyright theft.

Lamppost and Tree Crash Couple Escape Unhurt

Two people survived without a scratch after the car they were in struck a telegraph pole, a light pole at a crossing, a tree and a lamppost early yesterday. Ambulance crews were left stunned after the man and woman thought to be in their 30s emerged unscathed from the wreckage and said the pair were "very, very lucky".

Police Chopper Pilot Turned Off Lights to Evade Pursuit

A police helicopter pilot who sped past roadworks at 110mph in his car was yesterday told he had "thrown away" his good character as a judge spared him jail. Ian Kingston, 50, from Shapwick, Somerset, swore at Highways Agency officials before accelerating past a road block and jumping a red light in a bid to evade chasing officers.

Tories Stand Firm Against Wheelie Bins for Residents

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition running Birmingham City Council is in danger of its first defeat in three years - over wheelie bins. A proposal to experiment with wheeled bins for garden waste and recyclable rubbish has split the parties, with Tories demanding the idea be rejected while a significant proportion of the 32-strong Liberal Democrat group is believed to be in favour.

Court Pulls the Plug On Big Tv - Until January

The BBC TV Big Screen in Birmingham city centre will stay off until January after the city council was hit by a High Court injunction. Lawyers acting for the owners of Waterloo House - an office complex behind the screen on Victoria Square - obtained a banning order requiring the council to stop broadcasting and cease all work on a wall to house the 27ft-wide screen.