Stabbed burglar: Now police arrest his ‘accomplice’
The alleged accomplice of a career criminal who was killed by a pensioner during a botched burglary was finally arrested last night.
Billy Jeeves, 28, had been on the run for two weeks since henry Vincent, 37, was killed after breaking into the home richard Osborn-Brooks in hither Green, Southeast London.
he is thought to have fled in a white Vauxhall Astra van, which was found burnt-out in a lane near Swanley in Kent on April 7. Jeeves was arrested in Kent in a major police operation and was being held in custody last night.
Vincent was fatally stabbed after forcing Mr Osborn-Brooks downstairs as his alleged partner ransacked a bedroom.
Scotland Yard said: ‘Police recently appealed for information regarding a man they wanted to trace in connection with an aggravated burglary in hither Green.
‘Billy Jeeves, aged 28, was located and detained in north Kent at approximately 5.30pm on Friday April 20 by officers from the Met, with support from officers from the territorial support group and officers at Kent Police.
‘he has been arrested on suspicion of two counts of burglary, theft and possession of a controlled substance.’ The arrest came after it emerged that a lavish £100,000 funeral for Vincent will take place next month.
Mourners from the traveller community in limousines and horse-drawn carriages are expected to give Vincent a ‘big send-off’ on May 3.
The procession is expected to start at his mother’s house in Swanley, Kent, and finish at St Mary cray cemetery in Orpington.
A source close to Vincent’s family said: ‘They want to make a big show about his death and prove the gipsy legend that they’re not to be messed with.’
Details of the funeral emerged days after Vincent’s relatives and friends sparked outrage by erecting a shine outside the home where he was killed. Mr Osborn-Brooks was initially arrested on suspicion of murder – sparking a political outcry – but just two days later told he would face no further action.
Some members of the traveller community had hoped that the funeral cortege would go past Mr Osborn-Brooks’s house. But last night Scotland Yard confirmed this would not happen. Mr Osborn-Brooks and his 76-year-old wife Maureen have been forced to abandon their £500,000 home, where they lived for almost 42 years, amid fears of reprisals.
The elderly couple have faced threats since the burglary on April 4 and are understood to be living in a safe house. removal men packed up their home earlier this week and their car was taken away on a police-issue flatbed lorry.
‘Major police operation’