Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter given minimum terms of 26 and 25 years at Birmingham crown court for nightclub attack
Two men have been jailed for life for the murder of footballer Cody Fisher in a nightclub attack in Birmingham on Boxing Day 2022.
Remy Gordon, 23, and Kami Carpenter, 22, had blamed each other for stabbing the 23-year-old former Birmingham City academy player, who died at the scene from a chest wound.
Continue reading...Up to 600 council jobs to be lost, arts grants scrapped, libraries closed and bin collections reduced to fortnightly
Councillors in Birmingham have approved what are thought to be the biggest budget cuts in local authority history, with residents warning that the consequences could be “disastrous” for the city.
Birmingham city council met on Tuesday afternoon to debate and vote on a proposed set of cuts that will see the loss of up to 600 council jobs, arts grants scrapped, libraries closed and bin collections reduced to fortnightly.
Continue reading...Soap has given opportunities to actors, writers and production staff, says Philip Ralph on last day of filming
A screenwriter has described the decision to axe the daytime drama Doctors as “disastrous” and said soaps are collapsing as he marked the last day of filming the show.
The BBC announced in October the show would end in December this year due to “super inflation in drama production”.
Continue reading...Michael Gove approves exceptional rise for UK’s biggest local authority, affecting 1m people, and three other bankrupt councils
Council tax in Birmingham is likely to increase by up to 10% after the government allowed the local authority to bypass the national cap without the need for a local referendum.
The increase will affect more than 1 million people in the UK’s largest local authority, which declared itself effectively bankrupt last year due to a £300m budget gap.
Continue reading...Police say death of Wayne Brown, reportedly under investigation over academic qualifications claims, not being treated as suspicious
Wayne Brown, the chief of West Midlands fire service, has been found dead at his home in Birmingham. Police said his death is not being treated as suspicious. He was reportedly being investigated over claims on social media about his academic qualifications.
Greg Brackenridge, chair of West Midlands fire and rescue authority, said the fire service’s thoughts were with his family. “We are devastated to report that our chief fire officer, Wayne Brown, was this morning found dead at his home address,” he said. “The death is not being treated as suspicious by West Midlands police.
Continue reading...Detectives still investigating motive after Muhammad Hassam Ali died of his injuries in city centre
A teenage boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham city centre in a case of mistaken identity, police believe.
Muhammad Hassam Ali, 17, died from his injuries after he was stabbed in Victoria Square on Saturday. His family have issued a photo of him, but asked for privacy while they grieve.
Continue reading...Family of Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, say Home Office decision could allay fears of Sikhs in UK of being targeted by India
The family of the late Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda have called on the Home Office to appoint a police force to conduct a full and independent investigation into his sudden death last June, which coincided with a murder and an attempted murder of Sikh separatists in Canada and the US.
Khanda’s family lawyer, Michael Polak, said that a decision by the Home Office to launch an investigation would alleviate concerns among the Sikh community that they could be targeted by India and that their safety and rights were being sacrificed for “political expediency”.
Continue reading...Family of Avtar Khanda question UK authorities’ account that his death was reviewed by police and that there was no foul play
A Sikh activist in Birmingham complained that Indian police were verbally harassing him by phone and threatening his family in Punjab months before his sudden death in June, a Guardian investigation has found.
The death of Avtar Singh Khanda, which family and friends have said was suspicious, coincided with a plot that was playing out across the Atlantic where, US prosecutors have alleged, an Indian government official with close ties to Indian intelligence was ordering the murder of high-profile Sikh activists in Canada and the US.
Continue reading...West Midlands police investigate after rodents painted in Palestinian flag colours released in three McDonald’s
A man has been arrested after boxes of live rodents were released at McDonald’s restaurants in Birmingham, apparently as part of pro-Palestine protests.
Police said they were investigating three separate incidents in the region where live rodents were thrown into the fast food venues, and were also seeking a second man, Billal Hussain, 30.
Continue reading...PM declines to reveal if Manchester to Birmingham line will be scrapped amid speculation over soaring costs
Rishi Sunak has insisted he is not going to be forced into a “premature decision” over the fate of the HS2 high-speed rail line as speculation about the multibillion pound project continued to overshadow the Conservative conference.
“I am not going to be forced into a premature decision because it is good for someone’s TV programme,” the prime minister told BBC Breakfast.
Continue reading...Furious city mayors make a plea for the project north of Birmingham amid ugly scenes at Tory conference
So what does cancelling HS2 north of Birmingham look like? There were ugly scenes at the Conservative conference hall even before the official death knell sounds: an uneasy HS2 minister batting off questions as above his pay grade, furious metro mayors declaring battle, railway leaders’ heads spinning at the logic.
In the real world, it’s even worse. From the massive crater and demolished homes, business and public spaces outside London Euston station to the hundreds of millions spent on compulsory purchases of houses on the original routes north from Birmingham, the consequences of a train line that may never exist are all too tangible. About 30,000 people are working on the scheme – and many of those believed they would have jobs for the long term.
Continue reading...Mohamad al-Bared used technology at Coventry home to make drone designed to deliver a warhead or chemical weapon for IS
A Birmingham University PhD student has been found guilty of using a 3D printer at home to build a “kamikaze” drone designed to deliver an explosive warhead or chemical weapon for Islamic State (IS) terrorists.
Mechanical engineering graduate Mohamad al-Bared, 27, was found guilty of using a 3D printer to make the drone at his Coventry home while sending weekly updates to IS.
Continue reading...Recovery plan for country’s largest authority could include job cuts, asset sales and council tax rises
Ministers have announced commissioners will run Birmingham city council as part of a series of drastic emergency measures for the country’s largest authority, which has in effect declared itself bankrupt.
On 5 September the council issued a section 114 notice stating it did not have the resources to balance its budget because of a series of problems including a spiralling equal pay bill and IT failures.
Continue reading...GMB union is supporting 3,000 claims in Birmingham – and is gathering evidence from 20 other councils
Councils in the UK are facing compensation bills running into billions of pounds over equal pay claims, campaigners have warned, as they called on the government to intervene.
The GMB union is supporting more than 3,000 equal pay claims against Birmingham city council, and has disputes against councils in Coventry, Westmorland, Cumberland, Glasgow, Dundee and Fife.
Continue reading...With Birmingham indicating it cannot balance its books, experts warn of others living ‘hand to mouth’
The crisis in local authorities was laid bare on Tuesday as Birmingham city council in effect declared itself bankrupt, with experts warning that others across the UK were now living “hand to mouth”.
The council’s head of finance took the dramatic decision on Tuesday to issue a section 114 notice, indicating that it did not have the resources to balance its books.
Continue reading...Mark Thurston to leave government-owned company as construction moves ‘into an exciting new stage’
The chief executive of the HS2 railway has resigned amid severe delays and soaring costs that have seen the project scaled back.
Mark Thurston announced on Wednesday he would be departing the government-owned company at the end of September after six and a half years at the helm – making him the firm’s longest serving chief executive.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Data shows policy, deepening poverty among low-income families, affects about 1.5 million children
Labour has come under fresh pressure to vow to scrap the two-child benefit cap after it emerged one in four children in some of England and Wales's poorest parliamentary constituencies live in families left at least £3,000 a year out of pocket as a result of the policy.
The party’s stance on the policy, which critics say has been a major driver of deepening poverty among low-income families, is estimated to affect about 1.5 million children and is seen by some in Labour as an indicator of the strength of its determination to tackle child poverty.
Continue reading...Family calls for more restrictions on underage access to electric scooters after Mustafa Nadeem was killed last December
A 12-year-old boy was killed while riding a hired Voi e-scooter unlocked by a 14-year-old friend using their father’s account, an inquest has heard, as his family called for stricter measures to prevent children using loopholes to access them.
Mustafa Nadeem suffered fatal injuries when he rode an e-scooter along the pavement and accidentally collided with a pedestrian causing him to fall on the road into the path of a bus in Birmingham on 6 December last year.
Continue reading...Announcement to take decision away from councillors comes after local party called ‘dysfunctional’
The national Labour party has announced it will appoint the next leader of the city council in Birmingham, taking the decision away from councillors, after a damning internal report said the local party was “dysfunctional” and dominated by “personality-driven factionalism”.
The move would in effect oust the current leader, Ian Ward, who was re-elected as leader of the UK’s largest local authority after a contest in May last year, and his deputy, Brigid Jones.
Continue reading...Passengers faced average 30-minute wait, slightly worse than Manchester during 2022’s travel chaos
Passengers flying from Birmingham airport experienced the longest delays in the UK last year, official figures show.
Flight departures from Birmingham were on average half an hour behind schedule in 2022, marginally worse than Manchester, in a year marked by chaos for travellers.
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