Minister: It’s right to take on burglars
Our sympathies are with homeowners, says Gauke after pensioner’s arrest causes outcry
THE Justice Secretary last night said he was on the side of homeowners who defended their property, as it emerged that an armed burglar who died after struggling with a pensioner was a career criminal wanted by police.
Henry Vincent, 37, died from a stab wound following a burglary at the south-east London home of Richard Osborn-brooks, 78, early on Wednesday. A second man is still on the run.
David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, last night made clear that the Government’s “sympathies” were with homeowners who resisted during break-ins.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “While we cannot comment on specific cases, our sympathies are with householders who have to defend themselves when intruders break in. That’s why we strengthened the law in 2013 to give householders greater protection from intruders.
“Those changes make it clear that if a householder believes their life or the lives of their family are in danger, and they act in self-defence, they would not ordinarily be convicted of an offence.”
As Mr Osborn-brooks’ case makes headlines, London is in the midst of a broader surge of violence, with 55 people already killed this year.
The Metropolitan Police said yesterday that up to 200 extra police officers would be on the streets this weekend and Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, yesterday broke his silence over the recent spate of murders and called for more funding to tackle violent crime.
Mr Osborn-brooks was yesterday released on bail after his arrest on suspicion of murder prompted an outcry from victims’ groups and Tory MPS. Police said a struggle broke out after Mr Osborn-brooks found Vincent and another man inside his home in Hither Green, south-east London, shortly after midnight.
Vincent allegedly forced the homeowner into his kitchen while his accomplice went upstairs, where Mr Osborn-brooks’ wife was reportedly sleeping.
Vincent was stabbed in the upper body and found collapsed in a neighbouring street. His accomplice remains on the run.
It yesterday emerged that Vincent was named by police on a “most wanted” list and had helped con pensioners as part of a gang with his father and five uncles, operating in Kent and south London.
The group was jailed for a total of almost 29 years at Croydon Crown Court in 2003 after conning pensioners out of £448,180. They would knock on doors and suggest home owners had structural problems, promising to fix them for huge fees.
The gang would even escort victims to the bank so they could withdraw the cash and two of them made a woman in her 80s sign away her £150,000 home. They all admitted deception charges.
Vincent was jailed again in 2009 af- ter being convicted of defrauding an 80-year-old out of £72,000 for alleged roof repairs. His father, with whom he committed the crime, went on the run but was caught and jailed in 2011.
Mike Penning, a former justice minister, said that the decision to arrest the pensioner on suspicion of murder appeared “heavy-handed”. He added that he now faces a “month of hell” while he is on bail.
HE WAS a career criminal who targeted vulnerable pensioners and defrauded them of their life savings.
But Henry Vincent’s life of crime caught up with him when he received a stab wound during a break-in at the home of Richard Osborn-brooks, 78, in Hither Green, south-east London, in the early hours of Wednesday.
The 37-year-old, from Orpington, Kent, died in hospital some three hours later.
Last night, a close family member insisted that the father-of-three did not deserve to die and had simply “fallen in with the wrong crowd”. But that crowd appeared to be his own family, with whom he had stood alongside in court on more than one occasion. At the time of his death, Vincent was wanted over a separate burglary involving another elderly victim.
He had been named and pictured in January by Kent Police investigating a distraction theft when jewellery and valuables were stolen from a man in his 70s in Farningham, Kent.
The Vincent family gang operated in Kent and south London and were jailed for a combined 29 years in 2003 after conning pensioners out of £448,180, according to reports.
They would knock on doors and suggest homeowners had structural problems, promising to fix them for huge fees.
Two family members are said to have made a woman in her 80s sign away her £150,000 property.
All seven admitted deception charges at Croydon Crown Court and Vincent, for his part, was jailed for four-and-a-half years. He was jailed again in 2009 after being convicted of defrauding an 80-year-old out of £72,000 for alleged roof repairs.
He cannot have been long out of prison when he was named by Kent Police on its most wanted list in 2013 following another burglary in Gravesend, according to reports.
The family had terrorised whole communities, but a close relative told
The Daily Telegraph last night: “Henry got in with the wrong crowd. He used to be a good professional boxer. He was wrong to do a burglary, I agree, but he didn’t deserve to die because of it.
“He was a gentle giant with three beautiful little girls and what happened to him was wrong.”
Residents in Hither Green may struggle to summon up much goodwill. They spoke of their fears about which one of their homes would be next to be targeted by burglars.
And for one resident, Mr Osbornbrooks, that traumatic experience has become a “nightmare” after he was arrested.
The community has rallied around the pensioner, launching a fundraising page to pay for any legal fees he may incur and vowing to protest if he is charged.
Charlene Barnes, a property and legal adviser who lives in Ladywell not far from Mr Osborn-brooks’ home, and who revealed burglars tried to break into her home in daylight, told The
Daily Telegraph: “There is a big fear of burglary and knife crime. In the last couple of years, it has got a lot worse, we don’t feel safe in our own home.”
Ms Barnes plans to organise a protest if Mr Osborn-brooks faces charges.
“It is outrageous that a 78-year-old was arrested and held overnight when he was just protecting his home and his wife [Maureen],” she said.
“Everyone feels sympathy for him ... a traumatic experience has now turned into a nightmare. The whole community will be absolutely furious if we hear about charges and if we do, I know that I will be leading a march.”
‘He was a gentle giant with three beautiful little girls and what happened to him was wrong’