Dear readers — with Madeleine on holiday it’s me, Kate, flying solo this week. I’ll try to steer the ship straight while having the occasional, feverish flashback to the last time I was running things as a one-person team. The days of autumn 2023, when I set-up The Dispatch, are by now a hazy fog. Mainly, delirium brought on by what ought to be illegal levels of coffee consumption.
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Today, a founding member of flagging ‘patriot’ group Raise the Colours is facing a murder charge, after pub owner Matt O’Grady was punched in a bar in Lichfield on Sunday 24 May, and later died in hospital. Billy Allison, 36, will face trial in October. Also in your Brum in Brief, West Midlands nightlife is set to get a boost from the mayor: a new plan taking inspiration from Manchester, Coventry, and other cities aims to improve the night time economy and safety for both punters and workers.
Catch up and coming up:
- At the weekend, Madeleine’s read about homeless people living in Birmingham’s abandoned buildings gave a fascinating insight into a world that often goes unseen. “Fascinating article,” commented one reader.
- Last week, Kate unpicked a debate around ‘hot-spot policing’, following the arrival of Operation Fearless in Handsworth. The neighbourhood is facing major struggles with organised crime and antisocial behaviour, and many people have welcomed the move — but some have protested the increased police presence in an area with a febrile history of community-police relations.
- Know anything about clinical trials in the UK? Kate would like to speak to you. Get in touch at kate@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
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Photo of the week
Small Heath celebrates Eid. Photo: Instagram/ @mikeruanephoto
Brum in Brief
⚖️ The man charged with murder following an assault in a Lichfield bar last week is a founding member of the patriot group Raise the Colours (RtC), according to recent media reports. As we reported on Thursday, 36-year-old Billy Allison from Solihull was arrested after two people were reportedly punched at the Ricco and Loren cocktail bar in Lichfield on the evening of Sunday 24 May. Matt O’Grady, a director of The Plough pub in Huddlesford, later died in hospital, while the other victim was discharged.
On Wednesday, Allison appeared at the Staffordshire Justice Centre where he “looked like he hadn’t slept”, a witness told The Dispatch. The following day, he appeared at Stafford Crown Court where he was instructed to return on 1 September to give his plea. His trial, expected to last two weeks, begins on 26 October.
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