M5 Gloucestershire shut after car hits man near Stroud

Crime reporter(wp/bbc):

The M5 motorway in Gloucestershire was shut in both directions after a car hit and killed a pedestrian.

The road southbound was closed for four hours and northbound for two and half hours. The road is now open.

The crash happened just after 07:30 GMT on the southbound carriageway near junction 13 for Stroud.

The road was initially shut between junctions 12 and 14 southbound and between junctions 13 and 12 northbound while officers investigated.

The northbound carriageway re-opened at 10:00 and the southbound at 11:30.

Gloucestershire Police said: "A man has died following a collision between a car and a pedestrian on the M5 near junction 13 for Stroud this morning.

"The man (the pedestrian) was declared dead at the scene. No one else was injured."

Traffic was diverted on to the A38.

Lee Pomeroy: Surrey train victim 'was honourable man'

Pic:Lee Pomeroy was killed in front of his 14-year-old son/bbc
Crime reporter,surrey(wp/bbc):

Relatives have paid tribute to "devoted family man" Lee Pomeroy, 51, who was stabbed to death on a train in Surrey.

The married father of one from Guildford was on his way into London with his 14-year-old son for a day out on Friday when he was attacked.

In a statement his family called the attack, the day before his birthday, "horrific and pointless".

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and a 27-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

'Violent attack'

The statement from the family added: "He was a devoted family man and did everything for his family.

"He was an honourable man and would always help somebody who was in trouble.

"Lee would have had his birthday today, but did not get to see his presents.

"He was an honest, bright person, who loved music very much, he knew history and art and he was a bachelor of science in maths."

Mr Pomeroy and his attacker both got on the train at London Road station in Guildford at about 13:00 GMT.

Assistant Chief Constable Sean O'Callaghan told BBC Breakfast the two men, who it is believed did not know each other, moved through a carriage having a discussion for a few minutes until "that argument escalated to the unprovoked violent attack".

He added witness statements, support from other forces throughout the night and CCTV of the offence all led to the arrest.

Officers are still appealing for witnesses to come forward but Mr O'Callaghan said police are "confident" in the arrests they have made, and are not seeking anybody else in connection with the attack.

The father and son had been heading to London Waterloo, set to "spend some quality time together" in the city, relatives said.

More than 40 officers from British Transport Police are working alongside Surrey Police.

The forces were still searching for the murder weapon between Horsley and Farnham.

June Jones murder: Man arrested in Liverpool

Pic:June Jones was found on New Year's Eve/bbc
Crime reporter,liverpool(wp/bbc):

Police investigating the death of a woman found in her flat "weeks" after being killed have arrested a man on suspicion of murder.

June Jones, 33, from West Bromwich, was reported missing by her sister on Boxing Day. She was found by police on New Year's Eve.

Police named her ex-partner Michael Foran as a suspect. The BBC understands officers are no longer looking for him.

A 32-year-old man was arrested in Liverpool on Saturday.

He will now be transferred to the West Midlands for questioning, police said.

Peter Wilson, BBC Midlands Today special correspondent, said he understood that police arrested Mr Foran after reported sightings of him sleeping rough and begging in Liverpool city centre.

Miss Jones' body was found at her home in Wyndmill Crescent. The cause of her death is not yet known.

West Midlands Police has referred itself to the police watchdog over the case.

A 34-year-old man was due before magistrates in Walsall on Saturday charged with assisting an offender.

Coventry police operation: Man shot dead by officers

Pic:Sean Fitzgerald was named locally as the man who had been shot dead by police/bbc
Crime reporter,coventry(wp/bbc):

A man has been shot dead by police officers in Coventry.

Armed officers executed a warrant at an address in Burnaby Road during an "intelligence-led" operation on Friday evening, West Midlands Police said.

A 31-year-old man, named locally as Sean Fitzgerald, was pronounced dead at the scene while two other people were detained, the force said.

The area remains cordoned off and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating.

The two men, both aged 26, were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the production of cannabis and remain in custody, a force spokesman said.

Several police cars were still at the scene on Saturday and a cordon surrounded 50 homes, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire reporter Keith Wedgebury said.

'Person on stretcher'

A large number of police cars, along with emergency service vehicles, were reported in the mainly residential street north of the city centre from about 18:20 GMT on Friday.

Residents were told to stay indoors as part of the street was closed.

Witness Karl Lolley said he heard "four or five" gunshots after witnessing officers descend on the home.

"I saw three or four armed police cars turn up," he said.

"Five to six armed officers got out and they went in the front door. There were some gunshots.

"The next thing you know there's more police arriving and they cordon off the area.

"They carry a person out on a stretcher, they put him in an ambulance - the lights on the ambulance were flashing for about half an hour as they were working on him."

Ali, a friend of Mr Fitzgerald's, told BBC News he was "heartbroken" at his death.

"Me, myself personally, I've only known him for about a year, but I feel like that he's that much of a nice guy, I've know him my whole life," he said.

Mr Fitzgerald, who had served in the military, had "a heart of gold", and would "go out of his way for anyone".

"No matter how nice or how bad a guy is, nobody deserves to be killed," he said

Amanda Rowe, regional director of the IOPC confirmed the dead man's next of kin had been informed.

Investigators would now review footage from cameras worn by officers, she said.

"Our investigation is in its very early stages and we will be working hard to establish what happened.

"My thoughts are with the man's family and all of those affected by this incident."

Ahead of Brexit, top British universities enrol fewer EU students

University reporter(wp/reuters):

The number of European Union students enrolling in Britain’s leading universities fell by 3 percent in the 2018/2019 academic year, with the biggest drop hitting postgraduate research courses.

The Russell Group of 24 leading British universities, which includes Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics, said there was a 5 percent drop in the number of EU postgraduate taught students, and a 9 percent drop in postgraduate research students.

The numbers were released as a broader group of UK universities warned that the sector, contributing around 21 billion pounds to the economy and supporting 944,000 jobs, would take decades to recover if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal in March this year.

In a letter to politicians and the government, university leaders said vital research links would be compromised from new cancer treatments to technologies combating climate change.

“The valuable exchange of students, staff and knowledge would be seriously damaged,” they said. “It is no exaggeration to suggest that this would be an academic, cultural and scientific setback from which it would take decades to recover.”

Britain’s leading universities routinely compete with the likes of Harvard, MIT and Stanford to top the list of the best places in the world to study.

But British university bosses have warned since the 2016 Brexit vote that their institutions would be damaged by a loss of EU research funding grants and fewer European students.

The number of EU students enrolling at Russell Group universities rose by 1 percent in the 2017/2018 year and by mid-single digits in the four years before that date.

UK shops' December sales fall for sixth straight year - BDO survey

Staff reporter(wp/reuters):

British shops suffered a fall in December sales for the sixth straight year, a survey showed on Saturday, hurt by brittle consumer confidence and the ongoing shift to buying online.

Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO said its monthly High Street Sales Tracker (HSST) showed in-store high street sales fell by 1.9 percent year-on-year in December - an eleventh consecutive month of decline.

BDO said online sales grew 11.9 percent in December.

“As retailers suffered the worst year for well over a decade for in-store sales, it’s clear that consumer confidence is low,” said Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO.

“Shoppers have exercised extreme caution or shopped strategically online, seeking out discounts rather than visiting bricks and mortar stores or making impulse purchases,” she said, adding 2019 was set to be another challenging year for the sector.

Analysts have highlighted a disconnect between supportive economic factors - with consumers’ real earnings growing and employment levels high - and an apparent reluctance to spend, partly due to uncertainty over Britain’s departure from the European Union in March 2019.

Britain’s economic growth slowed to a crawl at the end of 2018 and the housing market is stalling, according to data published on Friday, less than three months before Brexit day.

Clothing chain Next (NXT.L) is the only major listed UK retailer to have reported on Christmas trade so far. It fared better than expected, with a late surge in online demand offsetting steep falls in store sales.

A raft of retailers are due to update next week, including Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), Tesco (TSCO.L), Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L), Morrisons (MRW.L) and Debenhams (DEB.L).