He has been in police protection since a burglar was stabbed in his home
A friend of Richard Osborn-Brooks has claimed the 78-year-old pensioner will never return to this home and has put it up for sale.
Henry Vincent, 37, died following a break-in at a south east London property belonging to Richard Osborn-Brooks on Wednesday.
Armed with a screwdriver Vincent received a single stab wound to his own chest, fled the property and collapsed in the street.
Since being arrested on suspicion of murder Osborn-Brooks has not returned to the property, instead going into police protection for fear of friends and family of Mr Vincent taking revenge.
Hither Green has become a microcosm of tension between local residents and travellers, as floral tributes to Mr Vincent have been repeatedly torn down by self-defined “vigilantes.”
Now a friend has anonymously told the Mirror that the 78-year-old and his disabled wife are definitely not going back to their home in Hither Green, south London.
He said: “They are waiting for the dust to settle before they announce that publicly and put their house on the market.”
“It’s the fact that they could come back and that his wife’s disabled.
“They could terrorise him. It’s not safe.
“He’s got what happened that night on his conscience for the rest of his life now. 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.”
Vincent’s accomplice on the night he died managed to escape and remains on the run.
Billy Jeeves, 28, is being sought by police following the burglary at around 12.45am on Wednesday April 4.
The Met Police released a mugshot of Jeeves and said he has links to Orpington and Swanley in Kent, and Cambridge.
Police also want to hear from anybody who may have seen his vehicle, a white Vauxhall Astra van with registration GU52 AXT – in the days and hours before and after the burglary.
If you have any information on Jeeves’ whereabouts, call 020 8721 4205 or 101, or call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
