FUNERAL FIT FOR A VIOLENT THUG
Mawkish floral tributes, mourners throwing stones and flicking V-signs ... the lurid £100k send-off for burglar killed by OAP
IN life Henry Vincent brought terror to the households he burgled.
And as the career criminal was laid to rest yesterday, mourners provided a vivid demonstration of his unsavoury past.
Hooded youths hurled rocks, bottles and eggs at bystanders as a stream of limousines adorned with garish floral arrangements snaked through Kent and south-east London.
One man living near the church where the funeral – thought to have cost up to £100,000 – took place was struck with an egg, and a photographer was punched in the face. The teenage assailant was pinned to the ground by police and arrested on suspicion of assault.
Two mourners were pictured holding slingshots and a BBC News truck was attacked.
Journalists had to flee after a group of 40 menacing young men made a beeline for them.
Mourners dressed in black opened car windows to hurl obscenities and flick the Vsign as they ‘celebrated’ the life of the serial burglar who was killed in a scuffle with a man whose home he was trying to rob.
From the front of the hearse Vincent’s father, Henry Snr, held aloft a photograph of his son and shouted: ‘The King is Dead.’
More than 50 police officers and two police helicopters were deployed as the cortege slowly made its way to St Mary’s Church in Orpington.
‘You need shooting’
Officers warned residents to avoid walking too close to the entrance of the church for their own safety. Journalists were told by police their safety could not be guaranteed after one mourner told them: ‘You need shooting in the head with a cannon ball.’
Residents watched with mounting horror as police struggled at times to maintain order.
One said: ‘It was a terrifying scene. They were incredibly threatening and were screaming and shouting as they stormed down the road. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
Meanwhile a motorist blocked the street some eight miles away in Hither Green, south- east London, where Vincent, 37, was fatally stabbed during a botched burglary on April 4. The driver, identified only as Dave, acted amid fears the funeral procession might arrive at the street.
Vincent, who was from the traveller community, was stabbed with his own screwdriver by Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, after forcing the pensioner downstairs so that his accomplice could ransack a bedroom.
Mr Osborn- Brooks was arrested on suspicion of murder before being told he would face no further action.
There was little sign of trouble when the procession left Vincent’s family home in Swanley, Kent, at 11.10am.
Vincent’s coffin was adorned with a white floral tribute spelling Daddy. A floral arrangement in the shape of a purple BMW sports car sat on top of the hearse.
Eight black Mercedes limousines containing family and friends followed the hearse and each had extravagant floral arrangements on their roofs. For one tribute, flowers adorned vodka and lemonade bottles – said to have been Vincent’s favourite drink.
The mood changed when the cortege approached the St Mary Cray area of Orpington and a rag-tag group of mourners joined the back of the procession.
The convoy did several loops of the area, partly
because Vincent’s family wanted to go past his favourite haunts.
Just before the service began 40 mourners ran at journalists, pelting them with eggs and rocks. hooded youths wearing sunglasses patrolled the streets, shouting abuse at anyone who was not a mourner. The 30-minute service was attended by around 150 relatives and friends.
Vincent’s favourite songs were played, including If I Could Turn Back the hands of Time by R Kelly, Dreams by The Corrs and Celine Dion’s I’m Your angel. Mourners then walked to the church’s cemetery where Vincent was buried.
his body had lain in an open casket for three days in the family home as hundreds paid their respects. One mourner, who refused to give her name, said: ‘his mum is devastated, she has not left the house for days. We’re coming back to her house for the wake.
‘People will then sit around and say nice things about him. I know he’s done a bad thing, but he’s dead and it’s only right for the family to pay their respects.’