A 94-year-old great gran who was battered by a thug as she slept in bed told her daughter: “I was screaming for help but no-one came,” it emerged yesterday (Tue).
The intruder beat frail widow Emma Winnall senseless, broke her arm and wrist and partially cut off her FINGER in the “motiveless” attack.
The cruel yob broke into Emma’s ground-floor flat last Monday night (1/5) but did not steal anything.
Shocked carers raised the alarm on Tuesday morning when they discovered Emma unconscious and covered in blood in bed at her home in Moseley, Birmingham.
The wheelchair-bound pensioner was rushed to hospital where she had emergency surgery and metal plates inserted into her arm.
Yesterday (Tue) Emma’s daughter Joyce Blencoe, 56, made an emotional appeal to catch the culprit.
Police also confirmed they were following up “a number of names” of potential suspects.
Speaking at a press conference at Lloyds House, West Midlands Police HQ in Birmingham, Joyce said: “I’m appealing for your help to find whoever did this.
“To see your own mum viciously beaten and covered in blood is the most horrific nightmare.
“It broke my heart to hear my frail and defenceless mum in hospital say to me ‘I was screaming for help but no-one came.’
“So please, if anyone knows what happened, if they have any suspicions that certain people may be involved or have information, then please come forward before they do it to someone else.”
Her brother John Winnall, 63, was beside Joyce as she made the impassioned plea for help.
Detective Chief Inspector Sab Johal, of West Midlands Police, said the motive for the attack was still “unclear”.
He said: “Emma is not someone who shows wealth.
“There does not appear to be a break in. The motive still remains unclear.
“The levels of violence were shocking.
“This is a 94-year-old person who was in bed. Even if she could offer resistance she was not able to.
“It appears Emma at this stage is unable to fully converse with us. A vulnerable victim of 94 years old, her recollection is not always going to be 100 per cent.
“It is a unique offence. It is very rare.
“The injuries suffered are quite horrific. She remains in hospital at this time and is very poorly. She is stable but critical.
“The injuries she sustained would have been challenging for people half her age.
“We have had a number of names put forward to the investigation team. At this stage we are treating the investigation with open minds.
“Moseley is one of the safest parts of Birmingham. We have a team of 20 detectives working on the investigation.”
Hardened cops were shocked by the motiveless attack.
Days after the attack, her family released a photograph of her in hospital with shocking injuries in the hope it will persuade anyone with information to go to the police.
Emma, who has five children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, has lived alone since her husband Frank died six years ago aged 91.
ENDS

One of Britain’s most historic tourist attractions has been fined #350,000 following the death of a pensioner who plunged from a castle bridge into a moat.

George Townley was on a day out at Warwick Castle with his partner and her family when he stumbled over a low parapet wall as he was leaving the famous attraction.

The 72-year-old grandfather dropped 14ft into the dry moat at the castle and died from his injuries in hospital the next day.

A court heard this week how the castle, built by William the Conqueror in 1068 ,did not take ‘sufficient measures’ to protect visitors crossing the bridge and failed to carry out an appropriate risk assessment.

Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd, who run the castle, was found guilty of two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act in relation to the retired mechanic’s death in December 2007.

At Warwick Crown Court on Tuesday the company were ordered to pay £350,000 in fines by Judge Nigel Godsmark QC.

He said: “This matter arose from the tragic death of George Townley.

“The death was tragic and unfortunate and he seems to have tripped unluckily.

“On my part I believe the risk of the bridge was not mainly to adult pedestrians but to children.

“Many people have crossed the bridge over the years and some were of the ilk of the health and safety experts from whom most of their evidence has been given in hindsight but Merlin had failed in its duty.”

Barry Berlin, prosecuting, said: “It is crystal clear that there was a material risk here and at a result of that people were put at risk.

“On anyone’s account the bridge should have been risk assessed because it was a major artery to the castle.

“Warning signs could have been put up and a barrier could have been put up.

“That’s not just what we suggest, that is clear from the December 10 risk assessment that was carried out the day after the accident.

“Sadly this was too late.”

Keith Morton QC, defending, said Merlin, who took charge of Warwick Castle in 1978, accepted the parapet wall was low but pointed out there had been about 20 million visitors who had crossed the bridge since the company had been involved with the castle.

He said: “There was an insignificant risk of one in four million of any type of accident happening on the bridge and a one in 40 million risk of serious injury or death, you can’t get much more insignificant than that other than, I suppose, one in 80 million.

“It’s hard to see how there was a significant risk.”

Merlin was found guilty of failing to take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent or protect visitors when entering or leaving the castle via the bridge from falling from a considerable height.

It was also found guilty of failing in its duty to provide preventative and protective measures.

As well as a #350,000 fine, the company was also ordered to pay costs of £145,000 to Warwick District Council.

Castle staff put temporary barriers on both sides of the bridge on the day after the accident, which are still in place.

The company intends to put up permanent barriers, subject to planning permission.

As well as Warwick Castle, Merlin also run famous British tourist attractions like Alton Towers, the London Eye, Madame Tussauds and Thorpe Park.

The murder trial of eight men involved in the Birmingham riots last summer began yesterday.

During the trial footage showing the moment when three men were knocked down by a car was played to members of the jury.

Harron Jahan (21), and brothers Shazad Ali (30) and Abdul Musavir (31) were run over and killed in Dudley Road, Winson Green.

The victims had been trying to protect both their shops and homes from looters. Once they had arrived in hospital they were pronounced dead.

The eight men accused of their murders denied the charges.

While the CCTV footage from the 10 August 2011 was played family members sobbed as they watched the incident unfold.

Judge, Mr Justice Flaux was forced to clear the Birmingham court after a heated argument began in the public gallery.

Prosecutor Tim Spencer QC told the jury: “They were killed in shocking circumstances. It would be very surprising if you did not find the circumstances of their deaths shocking”.

He told the crown court that the defendants were in three cars – a Ford Fiesta, a Mazda, and an Audi.

CCTV footage shown the Audi swerving as it travelled down the road, while the other two vehicles held back.

However moments later, an arm is extended from the driver in the Mazda. Spencer asked the jurors: “Did you see the arm? It is a signal A signal to those in the Fiesta, particularly the driver, to go”.

The footage then shown the horrifying moment when the Mazda car knocked down the three men on the Dudley road.

Mr Spencer added: “The driving that you have just seen was not chance. It was not accidental.

“It was deliberate and co-ordinated. It was a modern day equivalent of a chariot charge and it was deadly”.

The trial continues.

Article by Charlotte Greenhalgh

An illegal immigrant has been jailed after subjecting a terrified woman to a two-hour rape ordeal at her home while FILMING her suffering on his mobile phone.

Sang Tran was caged for 14 years this week for the brutal rape of the woman, which was also witnessed by the helpless victim’s horrified children.

The 26-year-old Vietnamese monster barged his way into the woman’s home wielding a huge machete and threatened to ‘chop her up’ if she did not comply with his sick demands.

He then dragged his screaming 35-year-old victim to her bedroom, before subjecting her to the terrifying rape ordeal.

Tran, of no fixed address, previously admitted two charges of rape at Birmingham Crown Court but was jailed on Wednesday.

Judge James Burbidge QC said: “You dragged her into the house and you strangled her for a significant period of time to keep her submissive.

“You added indignity upon your behaviour by filming her.

“She certainly was in a vulnerable position, naked and distressed.

“You produced a machete and threatened to chop her up. One can only contemplate her fear.”

John Attwood, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said that Tran barged his way into woman’s home in the Winson Green area of Birmingham in the early hours of March 17.

He dragged her upstairs, took her into a bedroom and began squeezing her neck.

Mr Attwood said two of the victim’s children attempted to push Tran away from their mother and she desperately tried to tell them to phone the police but they did not understand.

He said the woman was struggling to breathe and that on Tran’s orders she told the children to go to bed.

He then removed her clothing and raped her.

The defendant produced a mobile phone and filmed her as she tried to protect her modesty.

Mr Attwood said he then took the machete from underneath a mattress and that the distressed victim had pleaded with him.

He said he then dragged her into another room and raped her again.

Tran then went to sleep and the woman, who spoke little English, took the opportunity to alert the police who arrived to discover Tran had barricaded himself inside a room.

Elizabeth Lowe, defending, said the defendant, who had come to the UK in 2005, had been living “under the radar” of the authorities and had been drinking on the night.

A coroner slammed bungling medical staff for missing numerous “windows of opportunity” to save a 19-month-old boy who died after he was sent home from hospital THREE times in THREE days.

Tragic tot Harry Connolly died of dehydration and acute kidney failure after suffering from inflammation of the colon.

Despite desperate pleas from his parents Lucy and Raymond to keep him in hospital, four doctors at  (NGH) sent him home between April 27 and 29 last year despite the toddler showing clear signs of dehydration.

He finally passed away in his sleep at home in the early hours of May 1 – four days after he was first admitted to hospital.

At an inquest held at the hospital where he died, county coroner Anne Pember blasted doctors for missing countless “windows of opportunity” to spot Harry’s illness.

Recording a narrative verdict on Wednesday, Mrs Pember said: “Windows of opportunity to treat Harry were lost.

“These were on the first occasion he was discharged from NGH, the second time when he was only seen for a few hours and when he was seen at Nenedoc [out-of-hours emergency GP service in hospital].

“Had Harry remained in hospital or been re-admitted with a robust care plan, his chances of survival would have been enhanced.”

Mrs Pember described the disorganised arrangements for the ‘open 48-hour access to the ward system’, which should have allowed Harry to be fast-tracked back into hospital, as “catastrophic”.

Doctors also failed to weigh him  the day after he was admitted to hospital and no blood or urine sample was taken which Mrs Pember said “would have assisted diagnosis of his condition.”

Mrs Pember also said advice given to Mrs Connolly about how to hydrate Harry at home was “inadequate”.

Mrs Connolly claims she begged doctors to keep Harry in hospital, but her pleas were repeatedly ignored.

Speaking after the inquest, Harry’s devastated parents said the traumatic experience of watching their son’s health deteriorate in less than a week will “haunt them for the rest of their lives”.

Mrs Connolly said: “We still feel very angry as it is hard to deal with his death as it should not have happened. Children should not die of dehydration and renal failure.

“As a parent, I have learnt you should always trust your motherly instinct as I was right. I kept telling the medical staff that Harry was extremely sick but nobody would listen.”

Harry first became ill with severe diarrhoea and vomiting at his home in Delapre, Northampton, on April 23 last year, and was taken to a local GP three days later when his condition didn’t improve.

Harry was admitted to NGH that evening but was discharged the next day.

On April 28 his parents took him back to the hospital, but he was discharged again after a few hours.

His parents called the hospital saying he was not improving and reported that he had sunken eyes.

Medical staff told the family the hospital was closed for Good Friday, so Mrs Connolly took Harry to the Nenedoc out-of-hours emergency GP service, where they were seen by Dr Aboo Thamby.

He said Harry had a virus and advised Mrs Connolly to take him home and to give him fluids.

Harry was put to bed at home on April 30 but hours later Mr Connolly found his son stiff and lifeless.

A port-mortem examination revealed he had died of dehydration and acute kidney failure after suffering from an inflammation of the colon, which had not been detected by the hospital.

In a joint statement, the parents added they “strongly believed” that Harry was failed by the “sub-standard care” given to him by the hospital and Dr Aboo Thamby, the doctor at the Nenedoc out-of-hours service.

Mr and Mrs Connolly said: “We strongly believe Harry would have recovered and survived if he had remained in hospital on April 26 and been rehydrated, properly assessed, weighed, and given nutritional support.

“Furthermore, we feel he would have survived if he had been readmitted on April 28.

“The medical providers were given a third opportunity to save Harry on April 29. Instead he was turned away from hospital due to inaccurate open access arrangements, and later by Dr Thamby.”

The family is suing NGH and have lodged complaints to the General Medical Council about two of the doctors involved in Harry’s case.

A heavily pregnant mother was tied to a chair by an armed gang who then ransacked her rural country home in front of her and her three-year-old son.

Terrified Victoria Ratheram was attacked by raiders armed with a machete and baseball bat at her £200,000 luxury home in the quiet village of Wollerton, Shropshire.

The 28-year-old was tied up in the nursery she and her husband James had prepared for their unborn baby as the three men told her young son they were ‘just playing a game’.

Reliving the horrifying ordeal on Monday, she said: “I was in my home with my son, my husband had gone to work.

“I was about to go out when three men walked through the front door with a machete and what looked like an old style police truncheon.

“They were very scary and it was very traumatic.

“I am eight months pregnant. I had my three-year-old with me and they tied me to a kitchen chair in the nursery we have prepared for my new son.

“”Luckily my son is not traumatised by it, the men told him it was a game.”

Victoria was finally discovered when a neighbour’s daughter called round to use the phone.

She added: “My neighbour’s daughter came over and found me so untied me. I ran down the drive with my son to try to get to my mum’s and there were police there.”

Victoria was one of three people set upon by the gang in two separate raids carried out in broad daylight just before 9am on Thursday.

In the second raid in the village a woman and her teenage son were attacked, leaving the teenager with a cut to his hand which required an operation.

Police completed forensic examinations of the two homes at the weekend, but the hunt for the gang, who fled in a Land Rover Discovery taken from one of the properties, continues.

Despite the horrifying ordeal Victoria has vowed to stay put in her home.

Victoria, who is eight months pregnant, added: “I do not feel safe in my own home

but I will not let these men make me leave my house.

“I have no intention of letting these people make me move. It is my home, not there’s.”

Victoria and her 32-year-old husband went to hospital on Saturday for a check-up on their unborn baby.

She said: “I have had a check-up and luckily there is nothing wrong.”

Police are now trying to trace a silver saloon car which was seen in the village from about 6am on the day of the attack.

Detective Inspector Pete Brophy, from West Mercia Police, who is leading the investigation said: “I am still appealing for witnesses who spotted a silver saloon car in the village on Thursday from about 6am.”

A ‘hero’ father who received a bravery award after he appealed for calm during last summer’s riots which led to his son’s death broke down in tears on Tuesday as he told a jury of his “loss”.

Tariq Jahan, 46, sobbed uncontrollably as he explained why he called for peace at the height of the violence last August.

The father-of-three was praised by police, the Prime Minister and media alike for his decisive intervention in the street where, hours earlier, he had cradled his dying son, Haroon, 21.

On the second day of his trial at Birmingham Crown Court where is accused of grievous bodily harm, he said: “I had my own loss at the time and I felt it was unnecessary for other people to suffer.

“I felt I had to say to the younger generation, to the community.”

Jahan is accused of attacking Sajjaid Ali, 34, outside the man’s workplace in Handsworth, Birmingham, on July 6 last year.

The court Jahan, who met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to Birmingham after the riots, flipped after Mr Ali stared at his wife.

Mr Ali suffered a fractured jaw in two places after claiming Jahan kicked or punched him while he was on the ground.

Jahan said he acted in self-defence after Mr Ali tried to headbutt him after he got out the car and approached him to try and calm the situation down.

Ali Naseem Bajwa QC, defending, said as Jahan stopped his car he politely asked Mr Ali if he was Hindu, Pakistani, Sikh, Muslim or Iraqi, in order to relate with the man.

But a scuffle ensued after an aggressive Mr Ali replied “f**k off you grey, old haired man,” the court was told.

Jahan told the jury of seven men and five women: “Mr Ali leaned back and when he leaned back I knew that something was coming, a headbutt basically.

“He threw a headbutt and I moved to my right. It came down and made contact. It hit me on the left top part of my shoulder.

“As soon as he impacted I grabbed him from around the top of his head to pull him down to stop him from hitting me again.

“He then wrapped his arms around my waist and proceeded to push. I pushed his arms down to break free then pushed him away from myself to stop him from hitting me again.

“There was no time – a split second. I pushed him away and he has reacted. I thought that he is probably going to strike me again.

“It was an instinctive reaction – I struck him. I raised my hand to strike him to the face. I struck him to the left side of the cheek.

“I didn’t want confrontation. I just wanted to try and resolve something that I thought I could resolve. I wasn’t proud of what I’d done.”

Jahan was arrested two days later but lied to police, saying he was at his son’s garage at the time of the incident.

He told the jury: “It started off as one lie. I had to tell a dozen lies to keep my lie going.

“Once you start one lie you have to make up a thousand more lies to cover up that one lie.

“I didn’t want to involve my family. My wife was with me. My wife is not very good with English. She is a housewife. She becomes nervous. I didn’t want to put my wife through anything.”

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Shenaz Muzaffer branded Jahan, a delivery driver, a liar.

She told him: “The account that you have given about what happened on July 6 us a lie from beginning to end isn’t it?

“You were not at any stage acting in self-defence were you? This was a totally unprovoked attack that you carried out on Mr Ali.

“You beeped your horn at him and you thought he was staring at you and your wife. As a result, you lost your temper, got out the car.

“Whilst on the floor you kicked or punched him repeatedly aiming at his head. That initial blow was strong enough to knock him to the floor. Blows that you continued to rain on him were also very hard because you had lost your temper.”

Jurors were told about Jahan’s previous convictions, including  conspiracy to rob when he was 25, two matters of false accounting and forgery when he was 20 and a caution for possession of cannabis in 2003.

He was also cautioned by police in 2004 for assault occasioning ABH against his stepmother.

Jahan denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.

A decorated war hero who was murdered in his own home suffered “significant head injuries”, police revealed on Tuesday.

Tragic William Davis, 92, was found collapsed after being brutally attacked in his home on Sunday evening.

Initial post mortem results revealed the great-grandfather died after being battered around the head.

Forensic experts were this week continuing to search drains and rubbish bins near his home in Willenhall, West Mids., for the murder weapon.

The widower, known as Bill to friends, was a Royal Navy veteran who received several medals for his military service during World War Two.

Yesterday police confirmed Mr Davis, who walked with the aid of a zimmer frame, died after suffering “significant head injuries”.

Superintendent Richard Baker, from West Midlands Police Criminal Investigation Department, said: “We continue our painstaking examination of the scene today, and we will be speaking to significant witnesses, including those who discovered Mr Davis and family members who can begin to give us a picture of William’s life and last movements.

“We believe William was last seen at around 2.30pm on Sunday, and he was found collapsed in his home by neighbours shortly before we received the call at 6.30pm later that evening.

“We want to hear from anyone who saw Mr Davis on Sunday or saw anyone in the area around Hobley Street that afternoon.

“Any piece of information could well provide the key in finding those responsible for William’s death and we urge anyone who may be able to help our inquiry to come forward at the earliest opportunity.”

The popular pensioner, who worked as a locksmith until retiring at the age of 72, had lived in the quiet residential street for more than 30 years.

He had lived alone in two-bedroom semi-detached since 2006 after his wife Clara died aged 89.

The couple, who celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary three years earlier, had two grown-up sons who lived nearby.

Friends yesterday (Tue) described him as a friendly and courteous man who enjoyed gardening and reminiscing about his time in the armed forces.

Pub landlord Ranjit Singh, 46, from Willenhall, said: “I used to bump into him regularly. He was always asking how my dad was.

“My father used to work with him at the Charles Perks foundry in Willenhall in the 1960s. I know he was a hard-working bloke.

“I’ve known him since I was a little kid. He loved his gardening and he was always on the move.”

Neighbour Marianne Peach, 32, added: “He was lovely and really down to earth.

“He was always nice to the kids and would have a conversation with them.”

Another neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, added: “There was a murder nearby but that was 25 or 30 years ago.

“Since then it’s been fine, we’ve lived here 46-years and old Bill had been here much longer.

“He was still very active for his age, you used to see him on his frame walking every day, he loved walking.

“You’d still see him with two shopping bags dangling off the frame if he needed to go get something.

“He was so friendly with everyone, he would stand at his door most days and talk to anyone walking by.

“I only saw him on Sunday walking around in the sunshine, waving to everyone and stopping people for a chat.

“There’s a lot of vulnerable older people living on the street, I think we’re all feeling a bit nervous now, because it’s not what you expect on your doorstep is it?”

A disgraced ex-Tory council leader who molested a teenage girl in the 1970s and groped a junior member of staff in the town hall while in office was on Tuesday jailed for four years.

Dr George Lord, 79, “abused his position of authority” as a church preacher by indecently assaulting a girl between 1977 and 1979.

Two years ago, while leader of Worcestershire County Council, he sexually assaulted a 19-year-old girl in the council chambers.

Yesterday Lord was jailed for four years when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court.

Last month he pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault in relation to the 1970s offences.

He had already been found guilty at a trial in January of sexually assaulting the junior worker while he was leader in 2010.

Lord, from Bromsgrove, Worcs., sexually assaulted the council employee by “touching her bottom and vagina” without her consent.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Jon Wallis, of West Mercia Police, said: “While these two cases were separated by many years, in both George Lord has abused a position of authority.

“In the first case in the 1970s, he was a lay minister of a church who groomed a teenage girl for his own gratification.

“Then in 2010, in his capacity as Leader of Worcestershire County Council, he took advantage of a young woman in a junior position.

“The women he targeted, who have been left traumatised by their ordeal, have shown great fortitude to support a prosecution and achieve justice for themselves.”

It was revealed in December 2010 that Dr Lord had been arrested over allegations after officers confirmed earlier in the year they were looking into a complaint made by a woman regarding an alleged historic sexual offence.

Lord was released on bail pending further investigation but a month later he resigned as council leader and as a councillor in November.

The former Conservative party member, who represented the Alvechurch ward, was elected to the shadow Worcestershire County Council in May 1997.

He was made leader in 2001 and was re-elected every year, with the backing of full council, until he resigned.

Dr Lord first qualified to become a general teacher in 1956.

In his early 30s he became a university lecturer but continued with his education, finishing at the age of 56 and acquiring degrees in philosophy, theology and in the social sciences.

A soldier has been left devastated after burglars raided his home and stole his cherished war medals – while he was at a comrade’s FUNERAL.

Brave Sergeant James Stanley, 26, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, returned from a wake of a close friend and colleague to find his home ransacked and his treasured medals missing.

The break-in occurred while he had been attending a wake after his friend and fellow soldier Lance Bombardier Dean Rathbone, 24, died in an accident back at home.

The cold-hearted thieves also stole several pieces of army kit – including Sgt Stanley’s military camouflage uniform as well as his boots.

Next month, Sgt Stanley, who belongs to 26th Regiment Royal Artillery The West Midland Gunners, is due to receive another medal to mark his time in Afghanistan.

But as things stand, he will not be able to wear his existing medals.

He said: “I am going on parade in a few weeks, it’s just so annoying – I’ve been so wound up by it

“You spend your time serving there, and loosing lads, and this is what you get for it.

“My smart uniform was hanging up and they had just ripped them off it.

“They had gone through my bag and taken all my desert kit and loads of army kit, like GPS equipment and even stuff you use to make a brew over there – they completely ransacked the place.”

The soldier, from Great Wyrley, West Mids., was given the Operation Telic medal for his time spent in Iraq, and the Operation TOSCA medal for the peacekeeping he carried out in Cyprus.

He has been in the army since the age of 16 and his regiment is based in Gutersloh, Germany.

Sgt Stanley says one of the main reasons he wants his medals back is so he can pass them on to his son.

The soldier, who lives wife Claire, 28, and son Joshua, four, and five-year-old daughter Imogen, added: “They’re my medals and I want to pass them down to my son, it will never be the same, even if they are replicas.”

The burglars broke through the back window of the couple’s house on Friday (30/3).

They also stole electrical goods, including his iPad, thousands of pounds worth of jewellery belonging to his mother-in-law and a silver Ford Galaxy hire car.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Staffordshire Police on 101.