Thief faces jail over crime that ended in grandmother’s death.

A CAR thief whose bungled diesel raid on a farm ended in the death of a grandmother told his family: “It’s all my fault.”

Tony Aaron Blair, 22, was facing prison last night after he admitted stealing fuel in the raid during which 68-yearold farmer’s wife Rosemary Dove died.

Mrs Dove collapsed while making a 999 call after she and her husband, Frank, spotted the intruder on their farm at Bishop Middleham, County Durham.

Blair, of Leeholme Road, Leeholme, Bishop Auckland, fled after being chased across fields by the couple’s family – including one of their sons, who was hurt in the pursuit.

Blair went into hiding for two nights, telling relatives he feared he would face a murder charge after hearing of Mrs Dove’s death on the news.

Mrs Dove and her husband had returned home at 8.20pm on Sunday, June 22.

As they approached East House Farm they spotted an open gate and an unknown vehicle on their premises, then saw a man stealing red diesel from a pump.

While Mr Dove went to confront the intruder, his wife went inside to telephone the police and alert their two sons, who farm nearby.

While she reported the incident, she complained of feeling unwell to a call handler at Bishop Auckland police station.

Then the line fell silent.

Daughter-in-law Susan later discovered her lying on the floor and she was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Meanwhile, her husband, who had been joined by their sons and grandson, chased the intruder, who was in a stolen silver Mitsubishi pickup truck – across fields in their own vehicles.

They managed to corner the vehicle, and son Michael got out of his car to approach it.

The pick-up knocked him into a ditch, leaving him with serious hip and head injuries.

Blair managed to escape but detectives quickly identified him as the main suspect.

The 22-year-old lived with his grandparents, George and Maureen Brunskill. Sensing something was wrong, Mrs Brunskill had spoken to her grandson.

Bill Brabban, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing: “She couldn’t calm him down and recalls he kept saying ‘You can’t sort this, there’s a woman dead and its all my fault’.”

Knowing police were searching for him, Blair went into hiding – but his family kept begging him to hand himself in.

He had also dumped and burned out the pick-up truck at Howlish Plantation, near Coundon.

Mr Brabban said: “He told family he had panicked, thinking he could face a murder charge.”

Early on June 24, Blair returned home and arranged to meet his solicitor to surrender at Bishop Auckland police station.

But while waiting, Blair saw a police car pass the house and again went on the run.

At 11.15am, officers searching the area stopped a blue Citreon car and discovered Blair was a passenger and arrested him.

He told police: “I didn’t mean to kill anyone, this has got way out of hand. I didn’t even know I’d knocked that bloke over.A CAR thief whose bungled diesel raid on a farm ended in the death of a grandmother told his family: “It’s all my fault.”

Tony Aaron Blair, 22, was facing prison last night after he admitted stealing fuel in the raid during which 68-yearold farmer’s wife Rosemary Dove died.

Mrs Dove collapsed while making a 999 call after she and her husband, Frank, spotted the intruder on their farm at Bishop Middleham, County Durham.

Blair, of Leeholme Road, Leeholme, Bishop Auckland, fled after being chased across fields by the couple’s family – including one of their sons, who was hurt in the pursuit.

Blair went into hiding for two nights, telling relatives he feared he would face a murder charge after hearing of Mrs Dove’s death on the news.

Mrs Dove and her husband had returned home at 8.20pm on Sunday, June 22.

As they approached East House Farm they spotted an open gate and an unknown vehicle on their premises, then saw a man stealing red diesel from a pump.

While Mr Dove went to confront the intruder, his wife went inside to telephone the police and alert their two sons, who farm nearby.

While she reported the incident, she complained of feeling unwell to a call handler at Bishop Auckland police station.

Then the line fell silent.

Daughter-in-law Susan later discovered her lying on the floor and she was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Meanwhile, her husband, who had been joined by their sons and grandson, chased the intruder, who was in a stolen silver Mitsubishi pickup truck – across fields in their own vehicles.

They managed to corner the vehicle, and son Michael got out of his car to approach it.

The pick-up knocked him into a ditch, leaving him with serious hip and head injuries.

Blair managed to escape but detectives quickly identified him as the main suspect.

The 22-year-old lived with his grandparents, George and Maureen Brunskill. Sensing something was wrong, Mrs Brunskill had spoken to her grandson.

Bill Brabban, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing: “She couldn’t calm him down and recalls he kept saying ‘You can’t sort this, there’s a woman dead and its all my fault’.”

Knowing police were searching for him, Blair went into hiding – but his family kept begging him to hand himself in.

He had also dumped and burned out the pick-up truck at Howlish Plantation, near Coundon.

Mr Brabban said: “He told family he had panicked, thinking he could face a murder charge.”

Early on June 24, Blair returned home and arranged to meet his solicitor to surrender at Bishop Auckland police station.

But while waiting, Blair saw a police car pass the house and again went on the run.

At 11.15am, officers searching the area stopped a blue Citreon car and discovered Blair was a passenger and arrested him.

He told police: “I didn’t mean to kill anyone, this has got way out of hand. I didn’t even know I’d knocked that bloke over.

“I’ve had no sleep for two days. The news is making it out like I killed her.”

When Blair was remanded in June by magistrates at Newton Aycliffe, who heard he had 35 theft and motoring convictions in four years, he hurled abuse at them, shouting: “All this is well out of order. I’ll kick the face out of the lot of you.”

Yesterday, he admitted theft of diesel belonging to Frank Dove and causing grievous bodily harm to James Michael Dove, with intent to resist detention.

He also admitted the theft of a Mitsubishi pick-up truck from Coundon Industrial Estate, on June 20.

Guilty pleas were also entered to handling stolen goods in the form of a Toyota Landcruiser, between May 22 and 25, handling a stolen Nissan X-Trail between May 8 and 20, and the theft of a caravan on June 19.

Blair was remanded in custody by Judge Tony Briggs ahead of a pre-sentence report being prepared by probation service officials.