Sunday Mercury

Gold: My Worst Year at Blues ; I'd Sell to Right Buyer Takeover Bid Was Fiasco I've Lost Friend in Bruce Exclusive

BLUES chief David Gold last night lifted the lid on his "worst year" in football - and revealed he will sell the relegation- threatened club to the right buyer. He said the Carson Yeung takeover fiasco, Steve Bruce's bitter departure, and the arrests of co-owner David Sullivan and managing director Karren Brady had led to his most "traumatic season" at St Andrew's.

Gran's Terror at Hands of Double Killers ; Exclusive

GRANDMA Glenda Willis last night revealed how she escaped the clutches of two evil double killers and said: "I'm lucky to be alive." The 61 year-old was attacked and put in a deadly headlock by illegal immigrants Gabriel Bhengu and Jabu Mbowane as she made her way home from the shops.

We're a Club in Turmoil ; As Blues Face a Desperate Fight to Avoid Relegation, Chairman David Gold Opens His Heart Arrests and the Takeover Fiasco to Blame for City Plight Exclusive

BLUES chief David Gold spoke about his worst year in football last night and admitted: "I'll sell to the right bidder." The club could be relegated from the Premiership today unless they beat Blackburn at St Andrew's and other results go their way. Millionaire chairman Gold opened his heart in an emotional interview with the Sunday Mercury on the eve of the crunch match.

There Is No Body ..But That Will Not Stop Us Hunting Kate's Murderer ; Mystery Disappearance of Midland Farmer

POLICE may launch a murder prosecution after the disappearance of a Midland farmer - despite not yet finding her body. Kate Prout, 55, was reported missing from her 200-acre dairy farm in Redmarley, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, on November 10 last year.

Quarantine Train Relief

TERRIFIED passengers quarantined on a train in Canada after a woman died and several others fell ill have been given the all- clear. More than 260 passengers and 30 staff were locked in the Via Rail train on its way from Vancouver to Toronto amid fears of an epidemic.

Crazy World

R Kelly Trial

Can't See Anything at All Tv

IT'S been at least a year since I suggested that when it comes to crime fighting, CCTV is nothing more than a badly blurred joke. Since then the nation's four million or so CCTV cameras have each faithfully recorded another 10,000 hours of foggy and utterly worthless images, the vast majority of which have been automatically wiped or otherwise binned without a soul ever looking at them.

Air Pollution Is Simply Fly-Tipping

ESTIMATES of the amount of carbon being pumped into the atmosphere by airlines has been dramatically under-estimated. A report revealed in the US says that carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft are running 20 per cent higher than previously thought.

Truancy Is in a Class of Its Own

NEW truancy figures appear to reveal mass absenteeism on a scandalous scale in our schools. They show that every week of the last school term 350,000 kids missed at least one day in the classroom and that almost 60,000 youngsters were bunking off every day.

Cannabis Smokescreen Helps No-One

IT'S all a question of sending out the right messages, says Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. That's why she has reclassified cannabis as a Class B drug, reversing the decision of her predecessor David Blunkett, to make it Class C.

The Rollercoaster Season That has Left Premiership Status Hanging by a Thread Today...

JUNE 2007 - CHAIRMAN David Gold tells Mercury Sport in May that Blues will be prime suspects for a takeover from a foreign investor. The following month Carson Yeung first appears on the scene. The Hong Kong rich-man is reported to be launching a pounds 60 million takeover bid.

Mcleish: I Can Be the Hero

BIRMINGHAM boss Alex McLeish believes his troubled troops have the mental strength to make him a hero rather than a zero today. Question marks have been raised over whether the St Andrew's squad have been psychologically strong enough during the survival scrap.

Gold: We'll Keep Stars ; Hairman's Vow On Blues D-Day Exclusive

CHAIRMAN David Gold insists Birmingham will not cash-in on their big names - even if they are relegated today. Blues host Blackburn this afternoon needing to better the results of fellow strugglers Reading and Fulham to avoid tumbling out of the Premier League after just one season.

Krulak Is Quiet On Rafa Row

ASTON Villa director General Charles C Krulak is refusing to wade into Martin O'Neill's furious row with Liverpool's Rafa Benitez over Gareth Barry. O'Neill launched a furious verbal attack on his Anfield counterpart for showing a lack of respect in making public the Reds' interest in Villa's captain.

The Evil That Lurks Within the Hidden Cellars of Men's Souls

FOR a genuine understanding of life, it's always best to go to the experts. Here's what Sherlock Holmes had to say to his old chum, Dr Watson: "Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.

Jackson 5

1 HOPE everybody's enjoying this indecently unpatriotic sunny weather that we're having right now. At times like this I wish I played some sort of outdoor sport.

Cherie Happy to Take Paper Money

CHERIE Blair has been publicising her autobiography by making sure large self-pitying chunks of it were splattered all over a national newspaper. Is this the same Mrs Blair who spent the years of her husband's Premiership wailing like a Banshee about press intrusion into her life?

Ed Balls ; Mercury Exclusive: The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Answers Your Questions Bullying Will Not Be Tolerated ... We Must Do More to Stamp It Out We'll Take Action Against Schools Who Break the Law On Class Sizes We'll Do All We Can to Get Children in Their First School of Choice Every Parent Should Read 10 Minutes a Day to Children

ED BALLS ON DISCIPLINE SCHOOL bullies, lack of discipline and teenage pregnancies are just a few of the topics concerning you about your child's education.

Force of Hobbit ; Tolkien Name Dropped As Visitors Say Festival Is Same Year After Year

THE name of Birmingham's best-loved author has been dropped from a city festival staged in his honour - to boost visitor numbers. The Tolkien Weekend, which has been drawing in crowds of 10,000 for eight years, is being re-branded as Middle Earth Weekend.