Updated 6:44am 4 February 2012:

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Christopher Henwood

Chris Henwood

Kings Norton music teacher's app has star potential

HEAVENS above! A Birmingham music teacher has come up with a stargazing mobile phone ‘app’ that has topped the download charts.Read

Surgeon quit before 25-stone Birmingham gran's gastric bypass op

A 25-STONE Birmingham grandmother claims her “last chance” gastric bypass operation was cancelled – after her surgeon quit his job.Read

Pensioner targets for Black Country drug addict duo

TWO Midland drug addicts who robbed a vulnerable 81-year-old woman of her purse in what a judge described as an “utterly mean and despicable” crime have been jailed for a total of five years.Read

University of Birmingham bosses urged to drop occupation-style protest ban

BOSSES at the University of Birmingham have been urged to drop an injunction restricting students’ “legitimate right to protest”.Read

Birmingham library 'Faces' see work move ahead

THE public faces representing Birmingham’s £190 million new library enjoyed a tour of the city centre site.Read

Abused teen's tragic act leads to Birmingham abuser

A PAEDOPHILE who preyed on young girls has been jailed for ten years after he was nailed when one of his victims tried to kill herself.Read

Costa Concordia captain made 'grave error' says Streetly mum of survivor

A BIRMINGHAM mum whose son was aboard the doomed Costa Concordia has rushed to the defence of the vessel’s under-fire skipper dubbed “Captain Calamity”.Read

Costa Concordia: Shock of doomed liner hits home for Birmingham singer

COSTA Concordia survivor Amelia Leon made it back to Birmingham and declared: “Thank God I’m home”.Read

Architect Will Alsop to return to controversial West Bromwich arts centre The Public which he designed

THE architect behind the controversial Midland arts centre The Public is returning to the building he once described as “a box of delights”.Read

Accolades and glamour at the Best of Broad Street Awards (BOBS)

THE ever-popular Best Of Broad Street Awards - or BOBS as they’re better known - saw police, door staff, bars and clubs come in for praise at a glitzy ceremony in Birmingham. Read

Sandwell pensioners put in danger from arsonist neighbour

A SANDWELL man who put the lives of his elderly neighbours at risk when he set fire to his second floor flat has been put behind bars for two years.Read

Walsall man who wrecked ex-girlfriend's flat jailed

A THUG who went on a wrecking spree after breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s flat has been jailed for 16 months.Read

Stolen van ditched in Hampton in Arden and set alight

THIS was the charred wreck of a van that thieves left behind for Solihull residents.Read

Open mic at Jodi's Speak-Up in Kings Heath

KINGS Heath poet Jodi Ann Bickley continues her fight back to health with her second Speak-Up night following a devastating brain infection.Read

Masked knifeman terrorises Sandwell family in their own home

A MASKED jewellery thief terrorised a family at knifepoint – hours after walking free from court over an earlier crime.Read

Wolverhampton riots raider jailed for trainers theft

A MOTHER who stole a pair of trainers from a shop that was looted during the August riots has been put behind bars for 39 months.Read

Fridge unit fire breaks out at Wolverhampton shop

FIREFIGHTERS put out a blaze that broke out in a refrigeration unit at a Wolverhampton shop.Read

Pictures: Birmingham identical twins mark 80 years of birthdays on different days

WHAT a difference a day makes for identical twins Dennis and Peter Allsopp – born five minutes either side of midnight in January 1932.Read

Chickens die on West Midlands road as transporter lorry overturns

THOUSANDS of chickens were believed to have died when a lorry they were being transported in overturned in the Midlands.Read

Stourbridge swimmers in unexpected wait for pool reopening

MIDLAND swimmers are having an unexpected wait to get back into their local pool with workers carrying out “essential maintenance work”.Read

Author Profile

Chris is a general news reporter covering the Black Country. His journalism training was carried out near his home town of Carmarthen, in South Wales, where he worked on the Llanelli Star and South Wales Evening Post newspapers.