Mourners vent fury at funeral of slain burglar
THERE were violent scenes at funeral of burglar Henry Vincent in England yesterday.
Vincent, 37, who was from the Traveller community, was stabbed with his own screwdriver by Richard OsbornBrooks, 78, after forcing the pensioner downstairs so that his accomplice could ransack a bedroom in Hither Green, south-east London. Mr Osborn-Brooks was arrested on suspicion of murder before being told he would face no further action.
As career criminal Vincent was laid to rest yesterday, mourners provided a vivid demonstration of his past.
Hooded youths hurled rocks, bottles and eggs at bystanders as a stream of limousines adorned with garish floral arrangements snaked through Kent and south-east London.
Yesterday one man living near the church where the funeral took place was struck with an egg, and a photographer was punched in the face.
Two mourners were pictured holding slingshots and a BBC News truck was attacked.
Journalists had to flee after a group of 40 menacing young men made a beeline for them.
Mourners opened car windows to hurl obscenities and flick the V-sign as they celebrated the
‘His mum is devastated’
life of the burglar who was killed in a scuffle with a man whose home he was trying to rob. From the front of the hearse Vincent’s father, Henry Sr, held aloft a photograph of his son and shouted: ‘The King is Dead.’
More than 50 police officers and two police helicopters were deployed as the cortege slowly made its way to St Mary’s Church in Orpington, also southeast London.
One residents said: ‘It was a terrifying scene. They were incredibly threatening and were screaming and shouting as they stormed down the road.’
One mourner said: ‘His [Vincent’s] mum is devastated, she has not left the house for days... I know he’s done a bad thing, but he’s dead and it’s only right for the family to pay their respects.’