£43k cost of policing stabbed burglar’s funeral
POLICE protection for the funeral of stabbed burglar Henry Vincent cost taxpayers at least £43,000, it has emerged.
Vincent was killed while raiding the home of Richard Osborn-Brooks when the 78year- old stabbed him with a screwdriver in self-defence.
Records show more than 150 police officers, two helicopters and 34 vehicles made a ‘ring of steel’ to shield the career criminal’s funeral party last month.
At £43,000, the security costs were three times higher than had been predicted.
And they could be higher still as the figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, excluded operational costs for vehicles and the National Police Air Service. Helicopters can cost more than £800 an hour to run.
Also included in the costs were the arrests of two teenagers – one on suspicion of assault – who were both released without charge. The funeral was hit by violent outbursts as hooded youths hurled rocks and bottles at bystanders in Orpington, Kent. One man living near the church was hit by an egg and a photographer was punched.
Tensions had escalated after Vincent’s death with shrines and tributes to the 38-year-old put up close to the home of Mr Osborn- Brooks in Hither Green, south-east London.
The pensioner had been asleep beside his disabled wife Maureen, 76, on April 4 when two men broke into their home and threatened the couple with a screwdriver.
Vincent was stabbed in the chest after marching Mr Osborn-Brooks into the kitchen. Mr Osborn-Brooks was arrested on suspicion of murder but released without charge.