Daughter burgled after mum's death

A grieving grandmother has lashed out at the burglars who struck just days after her own mum’s death and snatched poignant last photos of the pair together.

Mary Shaw branded the thieves who ransacked her home just four days after the death of her 100 year-old mother Dora as ‘morons’, and said they had left her ‘absolutely distraught’.

The burglars struck on Monday, March 31, while Mrs Shaw was out at work behind the bar of Maidenhead Golf Club.

The 65-year-old returned home at about 11.05pm to see all of her house lights on and her curtains pulled. There was a figure standing behind the frosted glass of her front hallway, and as she pulled in to her drive he escaped through the back door.

“I felt absolute fear and panic,” said Mrs Shaw, from Boyn Valley Road in Maidenhead. “I really cannot describe it. I’m still mourning my mum and I thought, ‘oh no not this’. I was angry as well that someone was violating my privacy.”

After entering the house she found the criminals had trashed her dining room and upstairs spare bedroom. They stole an Olympus digital camera and a Sony camcorder – both of which contained photos and film of her mother’s 100th birthday celebrations last June.

Dora Dyer died on Thursday, March 27, just a day after breaking her hip in a fall. “I was absolutely distraught about it,” said the mother-of-one. “They were the only living things I had left of my mother. “It’s memories I cannot replace. That hurts more than the burglary.” She added: “I had all my sympathy cards up in the house, and I said to the police that the people that came into the house might have had a pang of conscience. But the police said no, they would not be worried about that. “They are not people, they are morons.”

Witnesses are asked to contact 08458 505 505 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.