Birmingham man in court charged with boy's attempted murder

A man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of a boy stabbed close to a Birmingham mosque.

Dominic Palmer is alleged to have tried to kill a 15-year-old who suffered multiple knife wounds early on Saturday in Herbert Road, Small Heath.

The victim is a member of the congregation at the nearby Hussainia Mosque, officials there confirmed.

Unemployed Mr Palmer, 29, of Herbert Road, Small Heath, is due before Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday.

At a court appearance on Monday morning, magistrates remanded Mr Palmer into custody ahead of Wednesday's hearing.

The teenager is in a stable condition in hospital.

Amjad Shah, general secretary at Hussainia Mosque, said: "The board of trustees and the entire community is praying for [his] swift recovery."

Det Insp Jim Colclough, of West Midlands Police, said the force's thoughts were with the boy's family.

"We've since learnt that the boy only celebrated his 15th birthday two days before the attack," he said.

"Our investigation is continuing as we work to establish the circumstances of what happened so that we can provide his family with the answers they need."

He made a further appeal for witnesses to contact police.