Neighbours of Richard Osborn-Brooks say OAP vanished after killing
The neighbours of Richard Osborn-Brooks have revealed they sleep next to weapons to protect themselves six years after he was forced to flee his family home after killing a traveller burglar.
Locals in Hither Green, south-east London, said the pensioner ‘vanished’ without a trace after he was forced into hiding when Henry Vincent’s family made threats of revenge.
Mr Osborn-Brooks, who was 79 at the time, stabbed career criminal Vincent, 37, with a 12-inch kitchen knife after being terrified when two masked men raided his home at night in April 2018.
He was initially arrested by police on suspicion of murder but was eventually released following a national public outcry after the case became a renowned example of a citizen using self-defence.
Mr Osborn-Brooks and his wife Maureen were then forced to flee their suburban home of 42 years immediately after the attempted raid.
Richard Osborn-Brooks, 79, (pictured) has remained in hiding after he knifed career criminal Henry Vincent, 32, after he caught him breaking into his home on April 4 2018
Vincent, who was high on cocaine and heroin at the time of the attack and armed with a screwdriver, came from a large travelling community that police feared could seek revenge on the elderly couple
The south-east London home owned by Mr Osborn-Brooks and his wife Maureen for 42 years, is now owned by a new family who were unaware of the high-profile case centred at the address
Vincent, who was high on cocaine and heroin at the time of the attack and armed with a screwdriver, came from a large travelling community that police feared could seek retribution on the elderly couple.
It comes after a farmer was arrested on suspicion of shooting a ‘burglar’ who had allegedly raided his home in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, earlier this week.
Rob Lomas, 50, was held after Marcus Smith, 19, was discovered dead at the scene in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, on Wednesday morning.
The alleged home invasion has chilling echoes of the Mr Osborn-Brooks case and that of farmer Tony Martin who shot 16-year-old traveller burglar Fred Barras to death on his farm in Norfolk in 1999.
Now Mr Osborn-Brooks’s neighbours have spoken out six years after he and his elderly wife, who was suffering from dementia, were forced to leave without packing their things and go into hiding.
Danny Genus, 72, has lived on the same road as Mr Osborn-Brooks for 34 years and said he knew him as a neighbour for years.
But he said immediately after the robbery, his friendly neighbour disappeared.
‘We never even got the chance to speak to them or say goodbye’ he said.
‘They were just gone. We have never seen them again. And no one has heard from them since.’
The postman backed Mr Osborn-Brooks defending himself, commenting ‘he was an army man and was tough’ and despite being old ‘knew how to handle himself’.
Another neighbour George Reynolds, 85, said the robbery made him more aware of burglars, telling MailOnline he was also prepared to use force to defend his home.
The 1920s terraced house in Hither Green was shuttered up following the raid in 2018
Vincent, 37, collapsed in the street and later died in University Hospital Lewisham
After the robbery, Mr Osborn-Brooks was described as a ‘traditional Englishman’ who was popular among neighbours after contributing towards a scheme to reduce burglary in the area
The retired carpenter said: ‘I go to bed every night with a heavy walking stick by the side of my bed. Most blokes I know have got sticks, they even carry them in the motor.
‘If someone came up my stairs the first thing I would do would be whack them.
‘They tried to get him with a screwdriver and he turned the tables on them. I now have cameras at the front and at the back, my neighbour has even had people in her garden before.’
The keen gardener also said he did not agree with the way the traveller community acted after Vincent’s death.
He said: ‘All the travellers were calling him a hero.s
‘We got a lot of travellers coming down to the road – mostly women. They were lining up and down the street. It was a bit tense.’
After the robbery, Mr Osborn-Brooks was described as a ‘traditional Englishman’ who was popular among neighbours after contributing towards a scheme to reduce burglary in the area.
Someone who worked with him in the 1970s at the offices of the RAC in Croydon, said he was an office manager in the membership department but had been ‘more of a friend than a boss’ – calling him ‘gentle and very intelligent’.
But the pensioner was forced to never return to his home in Hither Green and eventually sold the £500,000 1920s terrace, which had been shuttered up following the raid, for £100,000 under its market value in 2019.
The property is now the home to a new family who were unaware entirely of the infamous case when asked about it by MailOnline.
Another neighbour on the road, Jeffery Tunde, 35, said after the robbery the whole community supported Mr Osborn-Brooks.
Vincent’s family repeatedly left floral tributes to the dead burglar outside Mr Osborn-Brooks’ home in 2018
Six years after the incident the fence where the flowers were displayed has now broken
The quiet residential street (pictured this week) was once the scene of one of the most high-profile cases of self-defence in the UK
The intruder was found collapsed in a neighbouring street after fleeing the couple’s home
In the weeks following the robbery, removal men were sent to the address to pack the couple’s things as they could not return due to threats from the traveller’s family
Removal men collect items from the home of pensioner Mr Osborn-Brooks in Hither Green
Mr Osborn-Brooks, pictured at a clay pigeon shoot in 2010, lived at the house with his wife Maureen, who is understood to have had dementia
He said: ‘You have a right to defend your home. His life is the most precious thing. I feel like there is allowances in the law for people who go too far. Everybody would do the same.
‘His family came down afterwards – the cheek of it. The neighbourhood was quite united against them and supported him.’
Although he didn’t see much on the night of the robbery, Mr Tunde said the community became much more security conscious afterwards.
He said: ‘Hardly anything happens around here, but after that people put in much more security. All the alleyways got locked up. A lot has changed.’
Neighbour Bianca Enache, 30, said she remembered how busy the quiet residential street became after the incident.
‘I woke up in the morning after he stabbed him and there were police everywhere. The street was closed’, she said.
Although she didn’t know Mr Osborn-Brooks too well, Ms Enache said he was a ‘really nice man’ and they would regularly say ‘hi and bye’ to each other.
She said since the robbery gone wrong she worries about crime in the neighbourhood and what she would do if her home was invaded.
‘If it is self-defence, you do what you gotta do. If you can try not to kill the person that is good, but you have to defend yourself’ she said.
One neighbour who did not wish to be named said they remembered the case well and recalled how two weeks before the robbery she got a knock at the door from a young traveller boy, who was accompanied by some men.
The middle-aged women said: ‘They were asking people if they wanted their drives done. I think they wanted to check who was in and who was of the elderly generation. I think they were canvassing the area.
‘I asked the boy ‘shouldn’t you be in school?’ but they ignored me.’
She supported Mr Osborn-Brooks’ actions on the night of the robbery, adding: ‘He is defending his home and defending his wife, so I don’t think he should have been sent to jail.
‘If someone comes into your house you should be able to use reasonable force. It is a clear case of them or you.
‘It is sad because I don’t think they ever came back to that house.’
Following the death, she said the travellers put out flowers for Vincent but that the neighbourhood disapproved of them. Some neighbours, who she did not name, got rid of them by kicking them over – calling them disrespectful as Vincent had done something illegal.
A lot of the neighbours disapproved of the floral tributes at the time
Friends and relatives of Vincent arrive at the scene on South Park Crescent in Hither Green a week after the botched burglary
A number of residents took actions into their own hands and decided to tear down the flowers
She said the family mourning outside Mr Osborn-Brooks’ house would ‘clearly scare anyone’.
‘They were sitting down on the kerb on the road outside the house crying and shouting.’
At Vincent’s funeral the family wanted to drive the hearse through the street he died on, but a lot of the residents were against the plan.
‘We got a leaflet through the door telling us about it beforehand. On the day of the funeral there was a huge police presence.
‘It wasn’t a very nice time.’
Mr Osborn-Brooks has not been seen by any of the residents on road since after he and his wife were given new identities and moved to a mystery location.
At the inquest into Vincent’s death in 2019 the coroner ruled he was lawfully killed with ‘proportionate force’ after Mr Osborn-Brooks ‘acted in self-defence’.
But the pensioner had to hide his face when he evidence via videolink and it is thought he could now look totally different.
Married couple Peter, 51, and Judy, 50, have lived on the road for 20 years. They remember Vincent’s family members coming along the road following his death.
‘I saw them walking down the road – they were very intimidating.’
The neighbours said they backed Mr Osborn-Brooks, adding: ‘His wife was not too well and everybody supported him.’
But the couple added they had not seen him since he moved out.
At the time of Mr Osborn-Brooks’s arrest, he received a huge wave of support from the public who stressed that he should not face criminal action for stabbing an armed burglar to death.
In 2003, members of Vincent’s family were jailed for a total of almost 29 years at Croydon Crown Court after they conned pensioners out of £448,180.
In May 2018, trouble flared at the funeral of Vincent, with police forced to flood the streets with up to 50 officers and a force helicopter called in to monitor the event
The mourner on the way to the funeral for Vincent in May 2018
Supporters around the world retweeted the hashtag #FreeRichardOsbornBrooks, particularly in the US, where there are more liberal laws on the rights of homeowners to defend themselves from intruders.
A crowdfunding page was even set up to pay for any legal costs Mr Osborn-Brooks may have faced.
One 65-year-old local who lives on the same street also backed Mr Osborn-Brook’s use of force against the intruder.
‘If somebody comes into your home then they would be dealt with. What sort of evidence do you need when someone comes into your house at night’, he said.
‘If you had not killed him then he could have killed you. No one could have been near that house or helped.’
He also disapproved of the family coming down to the scene of the crime and putting flowers on the fence opposite the house.
‘What is the purpose of bringing the flowers when he has done something wrong? You are condoning it. He was not someone to be proud of’, he said.
Vincent had fled the scene after being stabbed but collapsed in the street before later dying in University Hospital Lewisham.
Shrines to the career criminal were put up by his family on the fence just yards from the house – sparking outrage.
Controversially the then deputy commissioner of Scotland Yard said he would not stop shrines being erected and described Vincent’s death as a ‘tragedy’.
In the aftermath of the case a row was sparked over the rights of people to protect themselves in their own homes.
The incident has echoes of the case of Tony Martin, who sparked a national debate in 1999 when he shot dead a 16-year-old burglar at his Norfolk home.
Mr Martin was released from prison in 2003 after his murder conviction was downgraded to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.
Since then ministers have toughened up protection for householders. In England and Wales they can use ‘disproportionate force’ to challenge an intruder in their home, which could include the use of lethal force.
However despite Mr Osborn-Brook avoiding jail, the neighbourhood prepared for chaos on the day of Vincent’s funeral.
Family members swore at photographers from their cars and rocks were thrown at journalists before a mourner was arrested at Vincent’s funeral
But the event soon turned nasty when members of the burglar’s family – who reportedly splashed £100,000 on the funeral – swore out of their car windows and rocks were thrown at photographers outside the church
Father-of-four Vincent, was once on a ‘most wanted’ list with a long criminal past.
In 2003, members of his family were jailed for a total of almost 29 years at Croydon Crown Court after they conned pensioners out of £448,180.
In May 2018, trouble flared at his funeral, with police forced to flood the streets around the picturesque St Mary’s Church in Orpington, Kent, with up to 50 officers as a cordon put in place and a force helicopter called in to monitor the event.
The day had started relatively quietly, as the funeral procession left the family home and black limousines, adorned with floral tributes shaped like a BMW convertible, a caravan and a boxing ring, snaked through the streets of south-east London.
They had wanted to drive down the road of Mr Osborn-Brooks but were not allowed, with neighbours of the pensioner blocking the road to prevent the procession just in case.
But the event soon turned nasty when members of the burglar’s family – who reportedly splashed £100,000 on the funeral – swore out of their car windows and rocks were thrown at photographers outside the church.
A group of mourners later decided to walk behind the hearse – and then charge at journalists, throwing bottles, stones and eggs.
Mr Osborn-Brooks and his wife Maureen remain in hiding from Vincent’s family to this day.
‘Gentle, friendly’ ex-RAC man cared for his elderly wife and chipped in to help community’s anti-burglary campaign but were driven out in aftermath of raid
Retired RAC boss Richard Osborn-Brooks had lived with his wife Maureen on the suburban street in Hither Green for 42 years.
He was described as a ‘traditional Englishman’ and was popular among neighbours after contributing towards a scheme to reduce burglary in the area.
Richard Osborn-Brooks
Tony Guest, who worked with Mr Osborn-Brooks in the 1970s at the offices of the RAC in Croydon, said he was an office manager in the membership department, but had been ‘more of a friend than a boss’.
‘He was gentle and very intelligent, probably too intelligent for the job he was doing then,’ he added. ‘He was never rowing or shouting at people. He was a very calm person. He used to play chess, he always liked his games.’
Pictures of Mr Osborn-Brooks suggested he enjoyed games and puzzles such as solitaire, as well as socialising with friends.
Neighbour Nick Myatt said at the time of the incident: ‘He’s a lovely old man and he cares for his wife who I think has dementia or is disabled. He’s a nice man, nice to talk to.’
Another said he was seen popping to the shops once a week but kept himself to himself and was ‘as nice as pie’.
But the couple’s peaceful retirement came crashing down around them on a night in April last year.
They were asleep upstairs in their £500,000 home when two men broke in.
When Mr Osborn-Brooks went downstairs to see what was happening, he was shoved into his kitchen while the men went upstairs where Maureen, said to suffer from dementia, was alone.
As a coroner heard in 2019, a struggle ensued in which burglar Henry Vincent suffered stab wounds from which he later died.
The life of Mr and Mrs Osborn-Brooks would never be the same.
In the following weeks, they were caught up in whirlwind as the clan of the career criminal who died threatened reprisals. Associates of Vincent came to street and made shrines to him from flowers, pictures, cards and balloons.
Mr and Mrs Osborn-Brooks quickly moved out of the home over fears of revenge attacks and removal men later arrived to collect all the belongings they had collected during their four decades in the property.
Close friends said they had reluctantly accepted that they will have to sell the home.
Speaking in 2018, a friend said: ‘It’s not safe. He’s got what happened that night on his conscience for the rest of his life. He’s never going to forget that he’s killed someone. He’s not a violent person. He’s a really nice run of the mill guy.’
The case sparked a row over the rights of people to protect themselves in their own homes.
Local Neighbourhood Watch member Sylbourne Sydial said: ‘A man should be able to defend his home. It’s not as if to say he had a cutlass or a machete or a knife. Your home is your castle and I believe your neighbourhood is your kingdom.’
In the aftermath of the Hither Green incident, the man who led the campaign to free Mr Martin from jail said it was ‘disgusting’ that Mr Osborn-Brooks was questioned by police.
Malcolm Starr said: ‘First he’s hustled by two men into his kitchen where he fights for his life and then he finds himself facing a murder charge. It’s just not right. What happened to the premise that an Englishman’s home is his castle?’
