Woman dies after burglary

An elderly woman collapsed and died while on the phone to police trying to explain that she had been burgled.

Irene Fairlie, 88, from Maidenhead in Berkshire, awoke from an afternoon sleep on Saturday to find she had been burgled.

As she rang police, Mrs Fairlie, who had asthma, began having trouble breathing and activated a panic alarm. The operator heard her gasping for breath and moments later the phone line went dead.

Mrs Fairlie, a dog breeder and once a judge at Crufts, was able only to tell police her purse had been stolen before she collapsed. Neighbours who rushed to her home found she was already dead. Her son John, a retired airline pilot, said yesterday: "My mother was a spritely and energetic woman and we are devastated. It is a bit unclear what exactly happened and we may never know. But it appears some burglars broke in."

Mrs Fairlie's handbag was stolen around three years ago in her driveway by a youth who told her she had dropped something. Before that she had had her garage broken into. Neighbours said the quiet cul-de-sac where she had been living had been blighted by petty crime and vandalism recently.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Reschwamm urged anyone with information to come forward.