Pensioner arrested over death of burglar
Campaigners say homeowner should not face charges as MPS question justice system
A PENSIONER was arrested on suspicion of murder yesterday after the death of a burglar in a tussle at his home, prompting warnings that the Government faces a “gulf in confidence” in the criminal justice system.
Richard Osborn-brooks, 78, was held by the Metropolitan Police after the 38-year-old intruder died of his injuries in hospital in the early hours yesterday.
Victims’ groups last night said the pensioner should not face charges as he had been defending himself and his home in the face of an armed intruder.
Police said the struggle broke out after Mr Osborn-brooks found two men inside his home in Hither Green, southeast London, shortly after midnight.
One of the burglars, who was armed with a screwdriver, forced the homeowner into his kitchen while his accomplice went upstairs.
Detectives believe a struggle then took place between “one of the males and the homeowner” and the intruder was stabbed in the upper body.
The incident recalls the case of Tony Martin, a Norfolk farmer who was convicted of manslaughter after shooting a burglar he discovered in his home in 1999.
Mr Martin was initially convicted of murder, but this was later reduced to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.
It comes amid mounting concern about a surge of violence in London, where 50 people have already died so far this year. Britain’s biggest police forces are increasingly responding to burglaries and other emergency calls for “low-level” crimes only if victims are considered “vulnerable”.
Priti Patel, a Tory MP and former Cabinet minister, said: “There is a gulf in public confidence in the criminal justice system. This is an issue for everyone to get a grip of.
“The public need to know their criminal justice system is working. It is about making sure the perpetrators of these crimes are feeling the full force of the law.
“This is a man who is clearly a victim of a horrendous crime. We must always put the interests of the victims at the heart of our justice system and not just come out on the side of offenders.”
Sylbourne Sydail, chairman of the local Neighbourhood Watch group, said: “A man should have the right and be able to defend their home. This reminds me of the Tony Martin case.”
Tim Loughton, a Tory member of the home affairs select committee, said: “Clearly justice must take its course, but I think many people would query why it is a vulnerable pensioner apparently defending his own home, outnumbered by two intruders, who is being treated as the criminal. Have the police got the right balance between pursuing genuine criminals rather than criminalising victims?”
The Conservatives have previously put pledges to defend the rights of
home owners at the heart of the party’s criminal justice policy. David Cameron, the former prime minister, said that burglars “give up their rights” when they break into people’s homes.
Chris Grayling, a former justice secretary, said that home owners should be in “no doubt” that the law was on their side.
The 38-year-old suspected burglar was found collapsed nearby by paramedics who took him to a central London hospital where he died at 3.37am. Police were unable to confirm whether he was stabbed with the screwdriver.
The second suspect fled the scene before police arrived and is now being hunted by police.
Gordon Williams, a local resident, said: “I could hear people moaning in the street and just thought it was someone drunk. I saw the body laid in the street and another guy jump in a van and leave. I leaned over him and tried to reassure him. There was a lot of blood.”
Mr Osborn-brooks suffered bruising to his arms but his injuries were not life-threatening.
Police arrested him on suspicion of grievous bodily harm before then arresting him on suspicion of murder.
Mr Osborn-brooks was a senior RAC manager in Croydon before his retirement. Former colleagues remembered him as an intelligent and sociable man who liked to play chess and was happy to go to the pub with staff.
He is understood to live with his disabled wife Maureen, 76, who neighbours said may suffer from dementia.
She is understood to have been in the house at the time of the burglary.
In February alone, there were 115 incidents of crime reported to police for the postcode area covering his house, including a number of burglaries close to Mr Osborn-brooks’s home and a number of cases of criminal damage, vehicle theft and sexual violence.
Neighbours and victims’ groups sprung to the pensioner’s defence yesterday.
Clem Williams, 58, a martial arts in- structor who has lived on the road for 20 years said: “It’s a very quiet road. Normally we do not get police incidents down this road... Why were the men at his house? The man has a right to defend his home. They should let him go.”
Norman Brennan, a former police officer who represents victims’ interests, said police were required to arrest the pensioner in order to investigate whether he had acted in self-defence.
But he said he would be “amazed” if he was prosecuted over the death.
“The law says that a person can use reasonable force when defending himself, his family or property.”
Mr Brennan added: “I cannot see any jury convicting someone in a case where the householder, for example, takes a knife and in a struggle with the burglar injures him.
“There were other factors in the Tony Martin case that led him to be convicted of manslaughter.”
♦ A man in his 20s died last night after being stabbed in Hackney, north London, the Metropolitan Police said – taking the number of people killed in the capital this year to 50.