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Jailed BBC reporter Ashley Blake set to appeal sentence

By Oliver Luft

Former BBC presenter Ashley Blake is to appeal against jail sentence imposed on him after being convicted of hitting a teenage boy in the face with a large wooden pole.

Midlands Today reporter Blake was last week sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to serve two year after having earlier being convicted of unlawful wounding.

During his trail, last month, the jury heard Blake swung a patio umbrella pole above his head, striking 17-year-old Greg Jones in the face. The teenager suffered injuries to his lip and his chin.

The incident happened at an 18th birthday party in January in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, at the pub Blake then owned, The Place 2B.

The 40-year-old was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice for throwing the pole into a neighbouring garden centre in an attempt to conceal it from police.

Blake, who worked as a reporter for regional news programme Midlands Today and on the Inside Out current affairs show, was sacked by the BBC following his conviction.

The Birmingham Mail today reported Errol Robinson, senior partner at Birmingham law firm McGrath and Co, confirming that Blake was seeking leave to appeal his sentence.

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Robinson was unable to provide any further details on the appeal grounds or when it is likely to be heard, the Mail added.

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