"THEY killed my mum." That was the claim today from the daughter of disabled pensioner Dorreen Ward, who has died following the heartbreaking theft of her wedding ring.

Gillian Jenkins, from Clifton Moor, said her beloved mum never recovered from the stress of losing the precious gold band. The 71-year-old was admitted to York Hospital days after the theft and later died of a heart attack with her family at the bedside.

"These people are the scum of the earth - they've killed my mum at the end of the day," Mrs Jenkins claimed.

"She couldn't have any stress at all because of her condition. Every day in hospital she would keep asking about the ring. She wouldn't harm anyone."

Mrs Ward, from Huntington, who suffered from dystonia and angina and used a motorised wheelchair, had a purse containing the ring stolen during her weekly trip to New Earswick Swimming Club. She made an appeal through The Press for its return but to no avail.

"They broke my mum's heart and now they've broken my heart," Mrs Jenkins said.

"If it had been anything else she would have coped with it.

"There are no words to describe her, she was just my life. Everyone who knew her loved her."

Mrs Ward, who was widely known in the community as "Nana Dot", was a nurse for more than 30 years and a keen writer of poetry. Mrs Jenkins said she had penned a verse of thanks to the hospital staff on her ward just days before her death which they had pinned to the wall.

Dorreen's granddaughter, Louise Mooring, 21, of Tang Hall, said her grandmother never recovered from the theft of her ring.

"Nana was so frightened (after the theft) that people were going to get in her house. It literally frightened her to death. I don't understand how they could do something like that to an old woman - it's disgusting."

The pensioner, who was divorced, had been taking part in a swimming session for the disabled when her purse, containing £50 and the ring, was stolen from a changing room cubicle.

She leaves behind five children, Gillian, Nigel, Heather, David and Stephen, seven grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

Mrs Jenkins said they hoped to scatter her mum's ashes among the dolphins in Cornwall because of her love for the mammal.

Her funeral will take place at All Saints' Church, Huntington, at 2.30pm, on Monday.