Murder detectives have released a recording of the final words of a pensioner calling 999 to report burglars had just been in her home.
Maureen Whale collapsed while phoning police to say two men had walked into her North London house and stolen her jewellery and purse on 4 December.
The 77-year-old, who lived alone, never regained consciousness and died the next day.
In the devastating recording the retired nurse and librarian can be heard trying to remain calm as the trauma of what has just happened appears to take over her.
“I can’t talk,” she says as her gasps for air. “I’m sorry.”
1/50 13 March 2019
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, to deliver his Spring Statement. He announced he was slashing the UK growth forecast and warned no-deal Brexit will destroy pledge to end austerity
PA
2/50 12 March 2019
British Synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe, attempting to recreate their World Championship routine in a pool filled with plastic for The Big Bang Fair challenge, opening this week at the NEC Birmingham. The campaign for the Big Bang competition, which is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) for young people in the UK has been created to help highlight how the eight million tonnes of plastic dumped in the world’s oceans every year affects marine life
PA
3/50 11 March 2019
Snow surrounds the Tan Hill pub in North Yorkshire
PA
4/50 10 March 2019
A man feeds food to dogs during the ‘Brexit Dogs Dinner’ protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London
Reuters
5/50 9 March 2019
Protesters from the climate change pressure group Extinction Rebellion demonstrate by pouring fake blood onto the street outside Downing Street in London
Reuters
6/50 8 March 2019
A woman runs with her Komondor dog as it is judged in a show ring on the second day of the Crufts dog show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham
AFP/Getty
7/50 7 March 2019
Scaffolding which has blown down in strong winds in Hampstead, north London
Robert Berg/Twitter/PA Wire
8/50 6 March 2019
Police and bomb disposal services outside the University of Glasgow after the building was evacuated when a suspect package was found in the mailroom
PA
9/50 5 March 2019
Police officers secure the scene where a suspicious package was found near Waterloo railway station. Other packages were also found at Heathrow Airport and London City Airport, with the police saying they were bombs. Counterterror officers are investigating the three devices as linked following a series of evacuations. One of the packages opened by office staff at Heathrow Airport burst into flames. Scotland Yard did not rule out the existence of other bombs. “The packages – all A4-sized white postal bags containing yellow Jiffy bags – have been assessed by specialist officers to be small improvised explosive devices,” a spokesperson said. “These devices, at this early stage of the investigation, appear capable of igniting an initially small fire when opened. “The Met Police Counter Terrorism Command is treating the incidents as a linked series and is keeping an open mind regarding motives.”
Reuters
10/50 4 March 2019
Large waves crash over the sea walls at Cleveleys near Blackpool, as the remains of Storm Freya, which has battered Britain with gales, heavy rain and snow causes widespread travel disruption
PA
11/50 3 March 2019
Christopher Hepworth with partner Tanisha Prince (right) on their way to victory in the annual UK Wife Carrying Race at The Nower in Dorking, Surrey
PA
12/50 2 March 2019
Police officers search near the scene on St Neot’s Road in Harold Hill, east London following the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old girl on Friday night. Police were called to reports of a knife attack in the Romford area by the ambulance service at 9.25pm. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene just over an hour later. Her next of kin have been informed and detectives from the Metropolitan Police have launched a murder investigation
PA
13/50 1 March 2019
Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Niamh Emerson celebrate after winning gold and silver medals in the women’s pentathlon at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow
Getty
14/50 28 February 2019
A painting, believed to be the second version of “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, is picutred during a photocall in London following its restoration. – The 400-year-old canvas — depicting the beheading of an Assyrian general, Holofernes, by Judith from the biblical Book of Judith — was found in 2014 when the owners of a house near the southwestern city of Toulouse in France, were investigating a leak in the ceiling. It is a burst of violence painted in haunting tones by a Renaissance master worth at least $100 million — or yet another fake distressing the art world.
AFP/Getty
15/50 27 February 2019
Dozens of firefighters worked through the night to battle a major moorland blaze in West Yorkshire. More than 1.5sq km of Saddleworth Moor was ablaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the UK’s hottest winter day on record
Reuters
16/50 26 February 2019
Alastair Cook after he received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace
PA
17/50 25 February 2019
Nobby the polar bear cools down at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park during unseasonably warm weather. The park was covered in a blanket of snow at the end of February 2018 as the UK was hit by sub-zero temperatures. Forecasters have said that after this weekend’s warm weather, temperatures later this week should return to normal
PA
18/50 24 February 2019
Olivia Colman won the best actress in a leading role award for ‘The Favourite’ at the 91st Academy Awards in Hollywood
PA
19/50 23 February 2019
Former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson seen on the big screen as he addresses a protest over the BBC’s Panorama programme outside the BBC in MediaCityUK, Salford
PA
20/50 22 February 2019
A girl takes a photo of her dog with daffodils in St James’s Park in London
PA
21/50 21 February 2019
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and the party’s Shadow Secretary of State for Departing the European Union Keir Starmer leave a meeting with European Union Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels
Reuters
22/50 20 February 2019
Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Chuka Umunna and Mike Gapes, (middle row, left to right) Angela Smith, Luciana Berger and Ann Coffey, (front row, left to right) Sarah Woollaston, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Joan Ryan, following a press conference for the Independent Group where the three Conservative MPs, Woollaston, Allen and Soubry, announced their resignation from the party
PA
23/50 19 February 2019
A full moon sets near Whitley Bay, North Tyneside as the sun begins to rise, ahead of the super snow moon on Tuesday evening
PA
24/50 18 February 2019
MP Chuka Umunna speaks during the announcement of his resignation, along with a group of six other Labour MPs, including, Luciana Berger, Mike Gapes, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie, Ann Coffey and Gavin Shuker and who will be known as the Independent Group
PA
25/50 17 February 2019
Climate change activists block the road as part of an Extinction Rebellion protest outside a London Fashion Week event at Tate Britain in London, calling on the fashion industry to use its influence to help to create a sustainable world.
PA
26/50 16 February 2019
Demonstrators hold a banner during a protest over BP and Iraq at the British Museum in London, Britain
Reuters
27/50 15 February 2019
Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Parliament Square in London. Thousands of UK pupils from schools, colleges and universities will walk out for a nationwide climate change strike. Students in 60 cities from the West Country to Scotland are protesting, urging the government to declare a climate emergency and take action over the problem. They are keen that the national curriculum is reformed and the environmental crisis is communicated to the public. Similar strikes have taken place in Australia and in European countries such as Belgium and Sweden
Getty
28/50 14 February 2019
A lady enjoys the beach in sunshine in Brighton, East Sussex. The Met Office forecast said Thursday and Friday would see early fog patches followed by plenty of sunshine
PA
29/50 13 February 2019
Jockeys compete in the space hopper derby during the Injured Jockeys Fund Charity Raceday at Plumpton Racecourse
PA
30/50 12 February 2019
Young members of Britain’s opposition Labour party write on a billboard why they want Jeremy Corbyn the party leader to back a “People’s Vote” second referendum on Britain’s European Union membership, during a publicity stunt in Islington North, Corbyn’s north London constituency. The event was organized Tuesday by “For our Future’s Sake” (FFS), a nationwide group of students and young people working to stop Brexit, with the billboard provided by “Led By Donkeys” a remain supporting group using online crowd funding to pay for billboard space to put up posters highlighting quotes on Brexit made by politicians and organizations.
AP
31/50 11 February 2019
Western lowland gorilla Kera, opens presents intended for her daughter Afia, in celebration of her third birthday at Bristol Zoo Gardens
PA
32/50 10 February 2019
Olivia Colman with her Bafta award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘The Favourite’ at the 72nd British Academy Film Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall. The Favourite took home seven awards during the night
PA
33/50 9 February 2019
Dwain Chambers made his sprint comeback in the 60m event at the British Indoor Championships. The 40-year-old came in second during his heat with a time of 6.78 however after a false start and a disqualification in the semi-final he failed to progress any further. The qualifying time for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Glasgow is 6.60 seconds
PA
34/50 8 February 2019
A model during a photo call for fashion presentation Fashion in Motion: Inspired by Christian Dior at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in South Kensington, London
PA
35/50 7 February 2019
President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker receives Prime Minister Theresa May, in the VIP corner of The Berlaymont, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. The EU and UK have agreed to restart Brexit talks to find “a way through” the deadlock in Westminster, following her visit
Getty
36/50 6 February 2019
The group of activists who stopped a deportation flight leaving Stansted Airport have walked free from court and are to appeal their convictions. The defendants, who have become known as the Stansted 15, said they were “guilty of nothing more than intervening to prevent harm” to migrants on board the plane
PA
37/50 5 February 2019
Emergency services attend to a house fire Stafford in which four children have died. Two adults and a fifth child are being treated in hospital
SWNS
38/50 4 February 2019
Hamish, the UK’s only polar bear cub, enjoying the snow at RZSS’s Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms. Hamish was the first polar bear cub to be born in the UK for 25 years when he arrived on December 18, 2017
RZSS/PA
39/50 3 February 2019
British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after attending a Sunday church service in Maidenhead
Getty
40/50 2 February 2019
Owen Farrell celebrates as he walks down the tunnel after England beat Ireland in their Six Nations match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin
Reuters
41/50 1 February 2019
Dog walkers in Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve on the Chilterns escarpment, in Oxfordshire. Snowfall and icy conditions are expected to cause widespread travel disruption after temperatures plummeted as low as minus 15.4C (4.3F) overnight.
PA
42/50 31 January 2019
A person walks past the frozen Sefton Park Lake in Liverpool after the UK had its coldest night of the winter so far as the cold snap continues to cause icy conditions across the country
PA
43/50 30 January 2019
Police searching near the scene in Islington, north London where 17-year-old boy, Nedim Bilgin, was pronounced dead after being stabbed on Tuesday evening
PA
44/50 29 January 2019
A vehicle navigates in snowy conditions near Newby Head in North Yorkshire, as up to 10cm of snow could fall on higher ground as temperatures drop across the UK this week
PA
45/50 28 January 2019
A Union flag flies from a pole in front of the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, near the Houses of Parliament in central London. Despite the humiliating rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, Britain is no closer to knowing the end result of its vote to leave the European Union. A raft of amendments to be voted on by MPs on Tuesday threaten to further muddy the waters as the clock ticks down to Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU on March 29
AFP/Getty
46/50 27 January 2019
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney being interviewed by host Andrew Marr on the BBC1 current affairs programme, Simon Coveney told the Show that the EU would not ratify a Brexit deal without a backstop.
PA
47/50 26 january 2019
Michael Russell, the Scottish government’s minister with responsibility for Brexit negotiations attends a Rally for Europe at Augustine United Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. With only two months to go until the UK is scheduled to leave the EU, people attended the rally to listen to speakers as they called for Brexit to be halted and for a second people’s vote to take place.
Getty
48/50 25 January 2019
Former engineers Derek Mack (left) and Mike Kelloway, both from the Isle of Wight, inside the remains of the Black Arrow projectile, the UK’s only rocket to successfully launch a satellite into orbit, are unveiled at a storage facility in Penicuik, near Edinburgh, after almost 50 years languishing in the Australian Outback
PA
49/50 24 January 2019
Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond makes a statement outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court after he was arrested and charged by police. No further details of the charge against the 64-year-old have been released. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal
PA
50/50 23 January 2019
A couple walk through a park, in High Wycombe, as some areas of the UK see the first snow of the year
Getty
1/50 13 March 2019
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, to deliver his Spring Statement. He announced he was slashing the UK growth forecast and warned no-deal Brexit will destroy pledge to end austerity
PA
2/50 12 March 2019
British Synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe, attempting to recreate their World Championship routine in a pool filled with plastic for The Big Bang Fair challenge, opening this week at the NEC Birmingham. The campaign for the Big Bang competition, which is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) for young people in the UK has been created to help highlight how the eight million tonnes of plastic dumped in the world’s oceans every year affects marine life
PA
3/50 11 March 2019
Snow surrounds the Tan Hill pub in North Yorkshire
PA
4/50 10 March 2019
A man feeds food to dogs during the ‘Brexit Dogs Dinner’ protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London
Reuters
5/50 9 March 2019
Protesters from the climate change pressure group Extinction Rebellion demonstrate by pouring fake blood onto the street outside Downing Street in London
Reuters
6/50 8 March 2019
A woman runs with her Komondor dog as it is judged in a show ring on the second day of the Crufts dog show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham
AFP/Getty
7/50 7 March 2019
Scaffolding which has blown down in strong winds in Hampstead, north London
Robert Berg/Twitter/PA Wire
8/50 6 March 2019
Police and bomb disposal services outside the University of Glasgow after the building was evacuated when a suspect package was found in the mailroom
PA
9/50 5 March 2019
Police officers secure the scene where a suspicious package was found near Waterloo railway station. Other packages were also found at Heathrow Airport and London City Airport, with the police saying they were bombs. Counterterror officers are investigating the three devices as linked following a series of evacuations. One of the packages opened by office staff at Heathrow Airport burst into flames. Scotland Yard did not rule out the existence of other bombs. “The packages – all A4-sized white postal bags containing yellow Jiffy bags – have been assessed by specialist officers to be small improvised explosive devices,” a spokesperson said. “These devices, at this early stage of the investigation, appear capable of igniting an initially small fire when opened. “The Met Police Counter Terrorism Command is treating the incidents as a linked series and is keeping an open mind regarding motives.”
Reuters
10/50 4 March 2019
Large waves crash over the sea walls at Cleveleys near Blackpool, as the remains of Storm Freya, which has battered Britain with gales, heavy rain and snow causes widespread travel disruption
PA
11/50 3 March 2019
Christopher Hepworth with partner Tanisha Prince (right) on their way to victory in the annual UK Wife Carrying Race at The Nower in Dorking, Surrey
PA
12/50 2 March 2019
Police officers search near the scene on St Neot’s Road in Harold Hill, east London following the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old girl on Friday night. Police were called to reports of a knife attack in the Romford area by the ambulance service at 9.25pm. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene just over an hour later. Her next of kin have been informed and detectives from the Metropolitan Police have launched a murder investigation
PA
13/50 1 March 2019
Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Niamh Emerson celebrate after winning gold and silver medals in the women’s pentathlon at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow
Getty
14/50 28 February 2019
A painting, believed to be the second version of “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, is picutred during a photocall in London following its restoration. – The 400-year-old canvas — depicting the beheading of an Assyrian general, Holofernes, by Judith from the biblical Book of Judith — was found in 2014 when the owners of a house near the southwestern city of Toulouse in France, were investigating a leak in the ceiling. It is a burst of violence painted in haunting tones by a Renaissance master worth at least $100 million — or yet another fake distressing the art world.
AFP/Getty
15/50 27 February 2019
Dozens of firefighters worked through the night to battle a major moorland blaze in West Yorkshire. More than 1.5sq km of Saddleworth Moor was ablaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the UK’s hottest winter day on record
Reuters
16/50 26 February 2019
Alastair Cook after he received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace
PA
17/50 25 February 2019
Nobby the polar bear cools down at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park during unseasonably warm weather. The park was covered in a blanket of snow at the end of February 2018 as the UK was hit by sub-zero temperatures. Forecasters have said that after this weekend’s warm weather, temperatures later this week should return to normal
PA
18/50 24 February 2019
Olivia Colman won the best actress in a leading role award for ‘The Favourite’ at the 91st Academy Awards in Hollywood
PA
19/50 23 February 2019
Former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson seen on the big screen as he addresses a protest over the BBC’s Panorama programme outside the BBC in MediaCityUK, Salford
PA
20/50 22 February 2019
A girl takes a photo of her dog with daffodils in St James’s Park in London
PA
21/50 21 February 2019
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and the party’s Shadow Secretary of State for Departing the European Union Keir Starmer leave a meeting with European Union Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels
Reuters
22/50 20 February 2019
Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Chuka Umunna and Mike Gapes, (middle row, left to right) Angela Smith, Luciana Berger and Ann Coffey, (front row, left to right) Sarah Woollaston, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Joan Ryan, following a press conference for the Independent Group where the three Conservative MPs, Woollaston, Allen and Soubry, announced their resignation from the party
PA
23/50 19 February 2019
A full moon sets near Whitley Bay, North Tyneside as the sun begins to rise, ahead of the super snow moon on Tuesday evening
PA
24/50 18 February 2019
MP Chuka Umunna speaks during the announcement of his resignation, along with a group of six other Labour MPs, including, Luciana Berger, Mike Gapes, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie, Ann Coffey and Gavin Shuker and who will be known as the Independent Group
PA
25/50 17 February 2019
Climate change activists block the road as part of an Extinction Rebellion protest outside a London Fashion Week event at Tate Britain in London, calling on the fashion industry to use its influence to help to create a sustainable world.
PA
26/50 16 February 2019
Demonstrators hold a banner during a protest over BP and Iraq at the British Museum in London, Britain
Reuters
27/50 15 February 2019
Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Parliament Square in London. Thousands of UK pupils from schools, colleges and universities will walk out for a nationwide climate change strike. Students in 60 cities from the West Country to Scotland are protesting, urging the government to declare a climate emergency and take action over the problem. They are keen that the national curriculum is reformed and the environmental crisis is communicated to the public. Similar strikes have taken place in Australia and in European countries such as Belgium and Sweden
Getty
28/50 14 February 2019
A lady enjoys the beach in sunshine in Brighton, East Sussex. The Met Office forecast said Thursday and Friday would see early fog patches followed by plenty of sunshine
PA
29/50 13 February 2019
Jockeys compete in the space hopper derby during the Injured Jockeys Fund Charity Raceday at Plumpton Racecourse
PA
30/50 12 February 2019
Young members of Britain’s opposition Labour party write on a billboard why they want Jeremy Corbyn the party leader to back a “People’s Vote” second referendum on Britain’s European Union membership, during a publicity stunt in Islington North, Corbyn’s north London constituency. The event was organized Tuesday by “For our Future’s Sake” (FFS), a nationwide group of students and young people working to stop Brexit, with the billboard provided by “Led By Donkeys” a remain supporting group using online crowd funding to pay for billboard space to put up posters highlighting quotes on Brexit made by politicians and organizations.
AP
31/50 11 February 2019
Western lowland gorilla Kera, opens presents intended for her daughter Afia, in celebration of her third birthday at Bristol Zoo Gardens
PA
32/50 10 February 2019
Olivia Colman with her Bafta award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘The Favourite’ at the 72nd British Academy Film Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall. The Favourite took home seven awards during the night
PA
33/50 9 February 2019
Dwain Chambers made his sprint comeback in the 60m event at the British Indoor Championships. The 40-year-old came in second during his heat with a time of 6.78 however after a false start and a disqualification in the semi-final he failed to progress any further. The qualifying time for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Glasgow is 6.60 seconds
PA
34/50 8 February 2019
A model during a photo call for fashion presentation Fashion in Motion: Inspired by Christian Dior at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in South Kensington, London
PA
35/50 7 February 2019
President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker receives Prime Minister Theresa May, in the VIP corner of The Berlaymont, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. The EU and UK have agreed to restart Brexit talks to find “a way through” the deadlock in Westminster, following her visit
Getty
36/50 6 February 2019
The group of activists who stopped a deportation flight leaving Stansted Airport have walked free from court and are to appeal their convictions. The defendants, who have become known as the Stansted 15, said they were “guilty of nothing more than intervening to prevent harm” to migrants on board the plane
PA
37/50 5 February 2019
Emergency services attend to a house fire Stafford in which four children have died. Two adults and a fifth child are being treated in hospital
SWNS
38/50 4 February 2019
Hamish, the UK’s only polar bear cub, enjoying the snow at RZSS’s Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms. Hamish was the first polar bear cub to be born in the UK for 25 years when he arrived on December 18, 2017
RZSS/PA
39/50 3 February 2019
British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after attending a Sunday church service in Maidenhead
Getty
40/50 2 February 2019
Owen Farrell celebrates as he walks down the tunnel after England beat Ireland in their Six Nations match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin
Reuters
41/50 1 February 2019
Dog walkers in Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve on the Chilterns escarpment, in Oxfordshire. Snowfall and icy conditions are expected to cause widespread travel disruption after temperatures plummeted as low as minus 15.4C (4.3F) overnight.
PA
42/50 31 January 2019
A person walks past the frozen Sefton Park Lake in Liverpool after the UK had its coldest night of the winter so far as the cold snap continues to cause icy conditions across the country
PA
43/50 30 January 2019
Police searching near the scene in Islington, north London where 17-year-old boy, Nedim Bilgin, was pronounced dead after being stabbed on Tuesday evening
PA
44/50 29 January 2019
A vehicle navigates in snowy conditions near Newby Head in North Yorkshire, as up to 10cm of snow could fall on higher ground as temperatures drop across the UK this week
PA
45/50 28 January 2019
A Union flag flies from a pole in front of the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, near the Houses of Parliament in central London. Despite the humiliating rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, Britain is no closer to knowing the end result of its vote to leave the European Union. A raft of amendments to be voted on by MPs on Tuesday threaten to further muddy the waters as the clock ticks down to Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU on March 29
AFP/Getty
46/50 27 January 2019
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney being interviewed by host Andrew Marr on the BBC1 current affairs programme, Simon Coveney told the Show that the EU would not ratify a Brexit deal without a backstop.
PA
47/50 26 january 2019
Michael Russell, the Scottish government’s minister with responsibility for Brexit negotiations attends a Rally for Europe at Augustine United Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. With only two months to go until the UK is scheduled to leave the EU, people attended the rally to listen to speakers as they called for Brexit to be halted and for a second people’s vote to take place.
Getty
48/50 25 January 2019
Former engineers Derek Mack (left) and Mike Kelloway, both from the Isle of Wight, inside the remains of the Black Arrow projectile, the UK’s only rocket to successfully launch a satellite into orbit, are unveiled at a storage facility in Penicuik, near Edinburgh, after almost 50 years languishing in the Australian Outback
PA
49/50 24 January 2019
Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond makes a statement outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court after he was arrested and charged by police. No further details of the charge against the 64-year-old have been released. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal
PA
50/50 23 January 2019
A couple walk through a park, in High Wycombe, as some areas of the UK see the first snow of the year
Getty
Within seconds she stops replying to the call handler and her breath goes quiet. “Maureen,” the operator says. “Can you hear me please?” If you can touch the handset, make a noise or cough.”
Nothing comes back.
Detectives are now treating the death as manslaughter and offering £20,000 for information on the two men and an accomplice who waited outside.
Ms Whale, who had also worked as air hostess, was sitting in her front room when the pair entered from the back of the cottage-style house, in Barnet.
It is unclear what exactly happened once they were inside but they walked out soon after with valuables including a Pandora ring, Tiffany necklace and a bracelet, as well as a handbag containing about £700 in American dollars and Turkish lira.
Ms Whale was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after the call-handler dispatched an ambulance but she died the following day from coronary heart disease which a post-mortem concluded was sparked by the stress of the burglary.
Her niece Gina Whale said: ““Hearing the last phone call made by my aunt is extremely distressing but we hope that by releasing this to the public someone, somewhere will be moved to come forward with information.”
She added: “Our aunt was a fiercely independent woman who should have been safe in the home she had lived in all of her life.
“No-one deserves to die in this way and we urge anyone who can help bring these men to justice to come forward and assist police with their investigation.”
The burglars wear spotted on CCTV wearing baseball caps, beanies and hoods. It is believed they were also responsible for two other raids on the same road that afternoon.
Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, of London’s Metropolitan Police, said: “It is so wrong that a woman who was so adventurous travelling the world in her younger days should die in such awful circumstances. Someone will recognise these burglars from CCTV or from a change in their behaviour and I am appealing to the families and partners of these individuals to help Maureen’s family get the justice they deserve.”
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