Career criminal stabbed to death in botched burglary at pensioner's house 'didn't deserve to die'

A career criminal who was stabbed to death during a suspected burglary of a pensioner’s house didn’t deserve to die, his family has said.

Henry Vincent, 37, died after being stabbed during a botched raid at the south-east London property of Richard Osborn-Brooks in the early hours of Wednesday.

Mr Osborn-Brooks was arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail pending further inquiries on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said.

It has emerged that Vincent, from Kent, was a career criminal who was wanted by Kent Police investigating a distraction burglary involving jewellery and valuables stolen from a man in his 70s.

According to reports, members of his family were jailed for a total of almost 29 years in 2003 after conning pensioners across Kent and south London out of nearly £448,180.

But relatives of Vincent, who is believed to be a father of three, said he didn’t deserve to die.

An unnamed cousin told the BBC: “The Henry I know, he was such a loving person, and it’s probably something which just went wrong but he shouldn’t have died out of it.”

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Another close relative told the Daily Telegraph Vincent had simply “got in with the wrong crowd”.

“He was wrong to do a burglary, I agree”, they said, “but he didn’t deserve to die because of it”.

Police were called at 12.45am on Wednesday to reports of the burglary at the address on South Park Crescent

They said the 78-year-old resident had found two men inside the house, sparking a struggle during which one of them threatened him with a screwdriver.

Vincent, who was found collapsed in nearby Further Green Road, suffered a stab wound to the upper body and was taken to hospital but died a few hours later.

The second suspect in the burglary fled the scene before police arrived and has not yet been found.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, from the Met Police, said: “I would like to speak with anyone who has information regarding the outstanding suspect from the burglary, who is believed to be a white male; he may have told someone what happened at the address.

“It is possible that he fled the scene in a vehicle, possibly a white van, leaving the scene in the direction of Further Green Road. Did you see this vehicle? Do you know where it went after this? I ask anyone who can help to call our incident room as soon as possible.”

Mr Osborn-Brooks’ arrest sparked an outcry from neighbours and an online fundraising campaign which gathered hundreds of pounds in several hours, while supporters included Dragon’s Den businessman Duncan Bannatyne.

Tony Martin – a farmer jailed for shooting two burglars, one of them fatally – also backed calls to drop proceedings against Mr Osborn-Brooks.

Mr Martin, who served three years in prison for shooting dead 16-year-old burglar Fred Barras and injuring accomplice Brendon Fearon at his home in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, in 1999, told the Daily Mirror: “I would have done the same thing if I was in Richard’s situation.

“The police should let him go as soon as possible, not hold him on a murder charge. Richard is not a criminal, he’s just a very unlucky man to be caught up in the muck of other people and legislation.”

Martin, 71, was initially found guilty of murder but this was reduced to manslaughter on appeal.

The Ministry of Justice has also reiterated that a householder has the right to defend their family from intruders if they believe their lives are in danger following the death of a burglar during an armed raid.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman 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.”