Public’s £15k bill for police presence

THE heavy police presence at Henry Vincent’s funeral is likely to have cost taxpayers around £15,000.

Force helicopters circled above while more than 50 officers were on the ground to keep order around the church.

Patrols were also sent to watch out for trouble outside Vincent’s mother’s house, where the cortege began, and in Hither Green, where he was stabbed to death.

Costing around £800 an hour, a helicopter was up in the air from around 9am.

It followed the cortege as it made the five-mile journey to the church, and hovered above monitoring the situation. As tensions escalated around St Mary Cray, another police aircraft joined.

Around 50 officers – including at least two sergeants – patrolled the perimeter of the Grade II listed St Mary’s Church on foot, in three vans, and on motorbikes.

And officers were stationed alongside an unmarked police car at the end of the road, where Vincent’s mother’s house is, for at least an hour before the cortege began its journey.

Although funeral organisers had promised not to go to Hither Green, two officers in a police car were also positioned outside Richard Osborn-Brooks’ house yesterday.

The Metropolitan Police said it had put together ‘an appropriate policing plan’ after being informed of the itinerary by funeral organisers and consulting with Kent Police and local authorities.

A spokesman said: ‘It is not for the Metropolitan Police to disclose funeral arrangements – when and where the funeral is being held, and the route of the funeral procession. It is not unusual for large funeral processions to cause traffic disruption. Any impact will be managed by … officers.’