Birmingham headlines 31 July: Fraudsters sold uncertified Chinese Covid tests to US homeland security officer

Two Birmingham men have been sentenced to jail after fraudulently selling uncertified Covid-19 test kits at the start of the pandemic. Ron Huss-Smickler and Steven Lawrence Beckford were sentenced to 18 and 4 months respectively, both suspended for two years.

Persistent thief Simon Youngsam has been jailed after he forced an autistic man to take money from a cashpoint in Erdington. West Midlands Police managed to link the 46 year-old to two robberies and a burglary. He was jailed for nine-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court.

Plans to turn the top floor of a multi-storey car park in the Jewellery Quarter into an urban farm have been approved. The space will be transformed into veg plots, greenhouses, community gardens and more as Slow Food Birmingham looks to provide Brummies with fresh local produce grown using sustainable methods.