Suspect held over diesel raid where farmer's wife died of heart attack

The family of a farmer's wife who died during a fuel raid on their farm demanded justice yesterday as police made an arrest.

Rosemary Dove, 68, had a heart attack after dialling 999 as her husband confronted a thief stealing cut-price diesel from a pump at the side of their farm.

Unaware that his wife had collapsed and died, William Dove, 67, and his son James, 43, chased the raider in their tractor as he fled in a silver pick-up across a field on Sunday evening.

After cornering him, James approached the vehicle but was run down and thrown into a ditch. It then crashed through a set of gates and escaped on to a road.

Yesterday, as Mrs Dove's family paid tribute to the 'hard-working' grandmother and mother of three, police arrested 21-year-old Tony Aarron Blair.

After details of the raid at East House Farm were disclosed to the media, police believe the Mitsubishi pick-up was driven to an industrial estate and torched. Officers found it on Monday.

Shortly before noon yesterday, they caught their suspect, after a chase which ended outside his home, a few miles from the Doves' farm in Bishop Middleham, County Durham.

Blair was pinned to the ground by officers and arrested on suspicion of assault, theft and stealing a motor vehicle.

He could yet face a manslaughter charge in connection with Mrs Dove's death.

Grief-stricken: Rosemary's husband William Dove

Police were still questioning Blair last night. Neighbours claimed he was a former soldier who had been in trouble with the police before.

Mrs Dove's grandson, James Dove Jnr, said: 'We are all devastated by what happened. All we want now is to see the person responsible for this terrible crime brought to justice.

'It is too late for my grandmother but as a family we want whoever has done this to be caught by the police and punished.'

Mrs Dove's grandson, James Dove Jnr, said: 'We are all devastated by what happened. All we want now is to see the person responsible for this terrible crime brought to justice.

'It is too late for my grandmother but as a family we want whoever has done this to be caught by the police and punished.'

Mr Dove Jnr, 19, a business studies student at Newcastle University, said his father was still recovering in hospital after fracturing his pelvis during the raid.

'He didn't know anything about what had happened to my grandmother until he was taken to hospital. He's in a stable condition in hospital but it's going to take time for him to recover from his injuries.'

Raid: The family found the man taking the diesel as they returned from an agricultural show

Red diesel is a cheaper form of fuel, so-called because it is dyed red making it easier to differentiate from that sold on forecourts.

It is stored by farmers for use in machinery, but is illegal to use on the road. It is cheaper because the taxes on it are much lower.

The farm raid follows record fuel prices. Thefts of red diesel have risen by 30 per cent in the last five months.