Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England) back issues from August 2008:
I KNOW JILL'S KILLER; EXCLUSIVE BARRY GEORGE THE ONLY INTERVIEW.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY ADAM ASPINALL BARRY George claimed he knew who killed Jill Dando in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mercury. The former Midland stuntman was sensationally freed from a life sentence on Friday after a jury overturned his conviction for murdering the ...
Tears in the beers; PUBS CALLING LAST ORDERS OVER RISING PRICE OF PINT.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY NATALIE REEVES PUB closures in the Midlands are rocketing after beer sales hit their lowest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s, industry experts warned last night. A staggering 417 boozers have shut in the region since 2001 - and the figures ...
Young girl kidnapped by father found unharmed.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... FUGITIVE Clark Rockefeller, who allegedly kidnapped his seven-year-old daughter, is in US police custody after a week on the run, it was reported last night. A Boston police source said the girl, Reigh Boss, nicknamed Snooks, was not harmed. He told the Boston ...
Police find body after river plunge.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... POLICE in a Midland town searching for a man who fell into the River Trent from a boat have found a body. Officers from Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire were called to Dunham-on-Trent on Wednesday after reports a 40 year-old man had fallen in. It is thought he was ...
'I do' need to be rescued.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... TWO young lovers were rescued after finding themselves more than a mile out at sea following a romantic marriage proposal in a rowing boat. The couple were dressed in full evening wear and enjoying a champagne picnic as they set out from Cromer, Norfolk, coastguards said. ...
crazy world.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... BIHA, INDIA: A dog has appeared in court - charged with biting people. The animal, called Chotu, was originally sentenced to death for its actions, but ...
Dangerous precedent.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: George Tyndale BEING able to wear a thin metal bangle is a vital element of what it means to be a Sikh. Who says so? A 14 year-old schoolgirl from Wales. Strange isn't it that after 500 years of religious development it should have been left to the tubby ...
Our nation could be littered with bodies of slayed husbands.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: George Tyndale WOMEN who kill their abusive husbands are to be allowed to get away with murder. In future a female who carefully plans a killing and callously carries it out in cold blood will simply have to face a charge of manslaughter. Instead ...
Miracle drug or hype for investment?(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: George Tyndale JOURNALISTS have often been accused of over-hyping medical developments and raising false hopes in the minds of the desperately ill. And they are usually guilty. But there's simply no need for us hacks to go over the top when "breakthroughs" ...
Complain at your peril...they know where you live.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: George Tyndale OUR massive DNA database currently holds information on a million people, including children, who are innocent of any crime. This, says a new inquiry, is quite wrong. Meanwhile, the cops and the Government argue that the database is a ...
LEWIS: I'M IN FORM OF MY LIFE; On-song Hamilton claims pole.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: IAN PARKES in Budapest LEWIS Hamilton sent out a chilling warning to his Formula One title rivals last night by revealing: "Right now I'm at my best." An on-Yre Hamilton clinched the 10th pole of his career to lead a McLaren onetwo in qualifying for the first ...
Europeans can upset the odds; BETRESCUE.com.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... WHILE waiting for the Premiership's return, punters can have a flutter on a summer sport traditionally offering punters lengthy odds and which, mercifully, keeps football gossip off the back pages for a few days - golf. Following Padraig Harrington's comprehensive victory in the ...
OFFER OF THE WEEK.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... OFFER OF THE WEEK: Open an account with Betdirect.com, bet pounds 25 on the event of ...
Cricket: WALSALL CLOSE ON PACESETTERS; ROUND-UP.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... WALSALL cut Barnt Green's advantage at the top of the Birmingham League Premier Division down to 22 points following their clash at Gorway. New Zealand batsman Brad Wilson blasted 88, while former Warwickshire favourite Mo Shiekh supplied a further 84 not out as Walsall piled ...
BARRY OFF; O'Neill resigned to losing star after U-turn.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY ANDY WALKER VILLA boss Martin O'Neill last night admitted that Gareth Barry WILL join Liverpool. On Wednesday Villa announced that their want away skipper would be staying after Rafa Benitez's Reds failed to meet a preagreed deadline. But in ...
Larsson's strike so Swede!(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... SEB Larsson served up a reminder of why Birmingham are so keen to keep hold of him at St Andrew's yesterday. The super Swede conjured up an impressive equaliser against Premier League Fulham 13 minutes from time. The Cottagers had taken the lead through Wales ...
Ex Marine saves girl from river.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... AN ex Marine who served in Iraq was hailed a hero last night after risking his life to save a toddler from drowning in a river. Security guard Rob Rogers, 30, dived into the River Severn in Bewdley, Worcestershire, to save the two year-old girl who had fallen in the water ...
Man quizzed over honeymoon horror.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... POLICE investigating the murder of a British bride on honeymoon in Antigua were questioning a new suspect last night - as her critically injured husband arrived back in Britain. Benjamin Mullany, who has a bullet lodged in the back of his head, was flown home to Swansea, Wales, ...
I got a pounds 140 gas bill and only use electric; EXCLUSIVE.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY ANUJI VARMA ANGRY Midland householder Michael Harvey was left fuming after receiving a gas bill for pounds 140 from British Gas - because he has only used electric for the past NINE YEARS. The company hit householders with record energy rises of 35 per ...
Rushdie in sue threat.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... SIR Salman Rushdie is threatening to sue publishers of a book written by a former Special Branch protection officer which portrays him as "tightfisted" and "extremely unpleasant". Co-author Ron Evans claims officers were so fed up with the author's attitude they locked him in a ...
Police plea to find OAP.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... COPS are appealing for help to trace a 72 year-old Midland man, suffering from dementia, who vanished four days ago. John Berry, of Thimbler Road, Canley, Coventry, was last seen at his home on July 30. The pensioner has no money but does have a bus pass and is known ...
Driver dies in smash.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A MOTORIST has died after a two car smash in inner-city Birmingham, police revealed last night. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics in Witton ...
crazy world.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... IOWA, USA: An argument between two drunk friends turned nasty when one friend bit off the others nose. The nose was not recovered and ...
Drug gang are jailed.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A GANG of Midland men have been jailed for taking part in a major international drug smuggling ring. Nicholas Conway, Martin Maguire and John Heffernan, from Derby, had been the subject of a covert police operation which saw cops working with detectives in Holland. ...
Cabbie hit.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A BLACK Country cabbie was > smashed over the head after chasing a group of passengers who had tried setting fire to his car. The driver stopped the tax in Pendeford ...
Tears in the beers; PUBS CALLING LAST ORDERS OVER RISING PRICE OF PINT.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: NATALIE REEVES PUB closures in the Midlands are rocketing after beer sales hit their lowest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s, industry experts warned last night. A staggering 417 boozers have shut in the region since 2001 - and the figures look ...
crazy world.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... BIHA, INDIA: A dog has appeared in court - charged with biting people. The animal, called Chotu, was originally sentenced to death for its actions, but ...
Ministers rally round PM.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... THREE senior Cabinet ministers issued a public vote of confidence in the Prime Minister last night - insisting that he is the right person to lead the Labour Party. Chancellor Alistair Darling, deputy leader Harriet Harman and Skills Secretary John Denham spoke out in a bid to ...
Lawyer in cash probe; LEGAL AID SOLICITORS ARE SHUT DOWN EXCLUSIVE.(Features)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY JEANETTE OLDHAM A MIDLAND criminal lawyer has had his firm shut down by industry regulators over allegations of financial irregularities. Millard Decal Spence, who ownS and runs Soho Law Solicitors in Handsworth, Birmingham, has had his practising ...
Anger over ambulance.(Features)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A DYING Mildand pensioner waited almost 20 minutes for an ambulance despite there being a station only 100 yards away. Alfred Parry, from Ledbury, Herefordshire, collapsed outside his flat on Monday. morning. His family desperately tried to resuscitate the 81 ...
Van smashes into house.(Features)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A PENSIONER escaped serious injury after losing control of his van - and smashing it into the front of a Black Country home. Elderly driver Brian Lowe, 70, was left just dazed after the freak accident in Moor Street, Brierley Hill, on Friday evening. The pensioner had lost ...
SICKENING; EXCLUSIVE Holding hands with a woman, this pervert has just admitted downloading the most vile child porn pictures ever found in the Midlands.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY JEANETTE OLDHAM A PERVERT has admitted downloading more than 6,000 depraved images - including child porn of the most serious level ever seen in a Midland court. James Pickering, 25, was caught with material showing scenes so appalling that we cannot go ...
Phones cut off as BT cable stolen.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... METAL thieves have stolen underground telephone cables - leaving 150 British Telecom customers in the Midlands without phone and internet connections. The copper-lined wires were ripped out in the Beaudesert Park and Cannock Wood area on the Cannock/Lichfield border in ...
crazy world.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... LAVERTON, AUSTRALIA: A former pest exterminator survived four days by feasting on the bugs he used to kill for a living ...
Boy burned.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A BOY has been airlifted to hospital with severe burns after a fire at his home in the West Midlands. ...
Savage attack on Good Samaritan.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A GOOD Samaritan needed facial reconstruction after stepping in to stop a racist attack in a Midland street. The 43 year-old man was attacked after seeing two Asian women being racially abused by a man in the St Peter's Gate area of Nottingham. He has been left with ...
WIN a pounds 2,000 bed of roses.(Competition/Offers)
Aug 03, 2008 ... WIN a 'Bed of Roses' worth pounds 2,000! In celebration of 'Love Your Bed week', The Sunday Mercury, Mansionhousedirect.co.uk and LetterboxFlowers.co.uk have joined forces to offer you the chance to win a 5ft Ultimate Cashmere mattress and pocketsprung divan bed set and Letter ...
pounds 22k THEFT TO LIVE HIGH LIFE; EXCLUSIVE Daughter of Lloyds Name who lost thousands used cash for luxury lifestyle.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY JEANETTE OLDHAM HER father was once tipped to marry the Earl of Bradford's daughter. As a one-time Lloyds of London "Name" with hundreds of thousands of pounds in the bank, Richard Goodwin-Self enjoyed a life of wealth and luxury. Daughter ...
WOOD'S ON FIRE FOR ALL BLACKS.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... TONY Woodcock battles over for one of his two tries as New Zealand got their Tri-Nations campaign back on track with a 39-10 victory against Australia. After back-to-back losses to South Africa and the Wallabies, the All Blacks' ...
Midland duo set to unveil new signings.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY MIKE BERRY COVENTRY and Wolverhampton will both blood new signings in the next week as the fight to avoid the Elite League relegation play-offs begins in earnest. Grand Prix rider Hans Andersen and Czech youngster Filip Sitera are both set to make their ...
LEADER BAYLISS ON POLE.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY TOM ROSTANCE WORLD Superbike series leader Troy Bayliss took advantage of a qualifying session blighted by showers to take pole position at Brands Hatch. The Xerox Ducati rider edged out Fiat Yamaha rider Nori Haga by just two hundredths of a second to ...
Cool front is here to stay; IRISH REIGN IN FIGHT TO BE KINGS OF TURF.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY BOB DOWNING IT was billed as the clash of the titans at the start of the season. When the Ballydoyle battalions would lock horns with the oilrich operation from Godolphin and their massed ranks of thoroughbreds. In fact, it has been nothing of the kind and ...
P'TIT FUTE made amends.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... P'TIT FUTE made amends for a disappointing run on the opening day of the Galway Festival with victory back at Ballybrit yesterday. Francis Flood's charge was only 12th in the GPT Handicap on the level on ...
ANDY'S CIN IT TO WIN.. Murray storms to Masters final.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: RORY MILLS ANDY Murray booked his place in the Cincinnati Masters final with a commanding win over big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic. The British number one beat his experienced opponent 6-4 6-4 and will now face a showdown against the ever-impressive Rafael ...
YURI THE TOPS IN OPEN RACE.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... JAPAN'S Yuri Fodoh, winner of 45 titles and a mind-blowing one thousand million yen in her own country, is on course for her first overseas victory at Sunningdale today. The 31-year-old, whose earnings convert to just under pounds 5 million, takes a one-stroke lead into the ...
bob's brain teasers...(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BOB BROWN THIS week we test your knowledge of bosses managing in the Championship ... 1) Who is in his second spell at Plymouth? 2) Who made 77 appearances for Scotland? 3) Which Spanish side were managed by Chris Coleman? 4) ...
Alex won't let Larsson walk away.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: GRAHAM HILL at St Andrew's BIRMINGHAM 1 Larsson 78 mins FULHAM 1 Davies 16mins SEB Larsson showed just why Alex McLeish wants to keep him at St Andrew's as Blues fought back against the side that helped send them down last ...
AS MULLEN'S HEAD BOY.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... The midaelder committed himself and ended up on his backside before Alex Nicholls delivered a right wing cross into a packed penalty area. Vale's defenders then switched off as Jabo Ibehre was given an age to steady himself before placing a tame effort just inside Joe Anyon's ...
Bath sunk by Kidder.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... TEAM BATH 1 KIDDERMINSTER 2 HARRIERS will go into next weekend's league opener with Lewes on the back of a winning end to pre-season, after beating Team Bath 2-1. Mark Yates' side overcame the Blue Square South newcomers at the University ground with goals ...
Burton let things slip.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... BURTON ALBION 2 CHESTERFIELD 3 IT WAS a game of two halves at the Pirelli Stadium as League Two side Chesterfield overcame a two-goal halftime deficit to defeat Burton. Nigel Clough's Blue Square Premier side were good value for their lead and were unlucky ...
Matt finish earns draw.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... CRYSTAL PALACE 1 LEICESTER 1 CAPTAIN Matt Oakley's first half goal proved enough for Leicester to earn a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The midfielder's shot from eight yards was cancelled out by youngster Victor Moses in the second ...
Guy double sinks Town.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... 0XFORD UTD 2 CHELTENHAM 1 CHELTENHAM Town's final pre-season friendly ended in defeat against Oxford United of the Blue Square Premier. The Robins, who are still searching for three or four players ahead of next week's Coca Cola League One opener against ...
CURT STEALS THE SHOW; Davies display lifts the gloom for Villa boss.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: ANDY WALKER at The Madejski Stadium READING 1 Karacan 10 mins ASTON VILLA 1 Agbonlahor 79 mins CURTIS Davies continued to stun the medics yesterday as the defender brought a ray of hope to a dark day for Martin O'Neill. ...
BARRY OFF; O'Neill resigned to losing star after U-turn.(Sport)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY ANDY WALKER VILLA boss Martin O'Neill last night admitted that Gareth Barry WILL join Liverpool. On Wednesday Villa announced that their wantaway skipper would be staying after Rafa Benitez's Reds failed to meet a preagreed deadline. But in the ...
Tensions high as man stabbed to death in city flat; BIG LEE.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY ADAM ASPINALL TRIBUTES were laid last night outside the flat of a Birmingham man who was found stabbed to death. The 34 year-old, named locally only as Lee, was found after police were called to an address in Faulkners Farm Drive, Erdington, in the early ...
THE ONLY INTERVIEW; EXCLUSIVE.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY ADAM ASPINALL BARRY George told the Sunday Mercury he knew who killed Jill Dando in his one and only jail interview. The former Midland stuntman was freed on Friday after an Old Bailey jury overturned his conviction for the murder of the muchloved BBC TV ...
The underworld are to blame... now they want to keep me quiet; WHAT BARRY GEORGE TOLD THE MERCURY SIX YEARS AGO.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... SO WHO KILLED JILL DANDO? IN the year before George was arrested in 2000, many theories emerged about who killed Jill Dando. They include: THE HITMAN Some speculated that Jill was assassinated on the orders of a vengeful underworld Mr Big, jailed after one ...
THE EVIL TWINS; EXCLUSIVE Sick copycat crime of man whose brother killed Midland DJ Tushar.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... Byline: BY ANUJI VARMA THESE are the evil twins who brought terror to the Midlands with copycat crimes that left one family man dead and another brutally battered and in fear of his life. Thug Brad Frewin, 21, of Castle Vale, Birmingham, beat up father-of-two Matthew ...
F1 engineer found shot.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A RENAULT Formula One engineer is believed to have shot himself at the team's Midland headquarters, police revealed last night. William Millar was found on a footpath within the grounds of the Whiteways Research Centre, near Enstone, Oxfordshire, on Wednesday morning after staff ...
A DYING BUSINESS; EXCLUSIVE Bells tolling for funeral directors as deaths fall.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... IT WAS once said there was nothing more certain in life than death and taxes. But the famous old saying seems to have come unstuck in the Midlands with the credit crunch biting in the most unlikely of industries. Funeral directors across the region say they are ...
Midland Muslims supporting Al-Qaida attacks on troops.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... MIDLAND Muslims are actively supporting the Taliban and Al-Qaida in attacks on British troops, the former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan has revealed. Brigadier Ed Butler claims coalition forces have also uncovered evidence that militant Islamic groups in Helmand Province ...
Arrest after baby flushed down toilet.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A MEXICAN mum has been arrested for allegedly flushing her newborn baby down the toilet, killing the boy. Cops said they found the baby's body in a sewage pumping station in the city of Guadalajara. Suspicion focused on 27 year-old Rita Maria Pena ...
Girl cut free by firemen.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A FIFTEEN year-old girl had to be cut free by firefighters after the car she was in crashed with a truck in a Black Country street. The teenager, who suffered whiplash and lower back injuries, had been travelling ...
crazy world.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... WISCONSIN, USA: Police arrested a fuming 56 year-old man after he shot his lawn mower because it wouldn't start. Keith Walendowski was ...
Prisoner on the loose.(News)
Aug 03, 2008 ... A SERIAL burglar has become the latest crook to abscond from a Midland open prison. Jason Andrew Oakes, aged 32 and from Stoke-on-Tent, failed to return to HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire on Thursday. Oakes was 18 months in to a ...