THIEVES ransacked a York house only hours after the owner was tragically killed in a car accident, it was revealed today.

Car paint sprayer Dean Kneeshaw, 26, died on Saturday when the off-road car he was travelling in crashed on a disused airfield.

Now his devastated fiancee Vicky Ryan, 26, says she can never return to their home in Clifton after the break-in.

Her stepfather Graham Hill today labelled the thieves "scum" and told how their actions had heaped more despair on the family at an already tragic time.

He told the Evening Press: "It is unbelievable. They are the scum of the earth.

"What kind of people do this? How on earth can anybody do this to a young woman who has just lost everything."

Mr Hill, 55, said Vicky, a hair stylist at the Cutting Crew, Market Street, York, had been staying with him and his wife Hilda at their home in Stillington following Dean's death.

The three of them returned to the young couple's home on Tuesday to collect insurance details - only to discover the place had been turned over by thieves.

A TV, perfume, and cash were among the items stolen, along with jewellery including a ring Dean had bought for Vicky.

York police today said they were investigating reports from neighbours of two youths acting suspiciously near the property on Monday evening.

DI David Hunt, of York Police, appealed for anyone with information to contact him.

He added: "We have got to keep an open mind as to whether or not the burglary is connected to the tragic loss of Mr Kneeshaw.

"If that should prove to be the case, it is a despicable act committed with no thought about Mr Kneeshaw's partner or family.

"I would urge people in Clifton to help us with any information they can about this callous crime."

The couple had been together six years and had lived in their Clifton home for three. They planned to marry this year and Mr Hill said their dream was to convert a barn near him into their married home and raise children.

He said: "Vicky said she is never going back to the house now that somebody else has been in. I wouldn't want her to."

An inquest has been opened and adjourned into Mr Kneeshaw's death following the accident at East Moor airfield near Sutton-on-the Forest.

The deputy coroner for the northern part of the county, John Broadbridge, said Mr Kneeshaw, a paint sprayer at motor dealers CH Render, in Flaxton, appeared to have been involved in an accident with a grass track vehicle, which was not on a public road.

He said inquiries into the accident were continuing and adjourned the inquest.

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