Black Country burglar dies in cop chase

Feb 6 2011 by Chris Henwood, Sunday Mercury

A BLACK Country distraction burglar died when a high-powered stolen car he was in smashed into a tree during a police chase.

Cornelius Fitzharris, 28, was killed along with driver Eric Fitzgerald, 23, when their blue BMW careered off an icy road.

Officers found an imitation firearm, balaclavas and house-breaking tools in the wreckage of the crash in Limerick, Ireland.

Fitzharris, formerly of Willenhall, and Fitzgerald were pronounced dead at the scene while a third man, Andrew Nolan, was rushed to hospital and is expected to survive.

A police car had started following the men after reports that the BMW was being driven dangerously.

The crash happened just weeks before Christmas.

No other cars were involved, but independent police investigators at the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission have been called in.

Fitzharris was jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court for two-and-a-half-years in 2008 after admitting two burglaries.

The court heard he had posed as a gas engineer to raid the homes of a 73-year-old woman and a man aged 61.