Richard Osborn-Brooks, 79, knifed career criminal Henry Vincent, 32 in the heart after he caught him breaking into his home in South Park Crescent, Hither Green, on April 4 last year
A homeowner confronted by an armed burglar picked up a knife and shouted ‘mine is bigger than yours’ before stabbing him to death, an inquest heard today.
Richard Osborn-Brooks, 79, knifed career criminal Henry Vincent, 32, after he caught him breaking into his home in, Hither Green, south London, in April last year.
Vincent was high on cocaine and heroin and brandishing a screwdriver when he broke into the property in the early hours.
Shortly after the incident, bodycam footage captured Mr Osborn Brooks telling police: ‘[Vincent] came running down the stairs and he had a sharp implement in his hand. He said “come near me and I’ll stick you”.
‘I said “well mine is bigger than yours” and I stabbed him.’
Vincent, 37, fled the scene but collapsed in the street and later died in University Hospital Lewisham.
Mr Osborn-Brooks is in witness protection so is giving evidence by video link today.
Richard Osborn-Brooks, 79, knifed career criminal Henry Vincent, 32, after he caught him breaking into his home in South Park Crescent, Hither Green, on April 4 last year
Left Rose Lee, the mother of Henry Vincent, arrives at Southwark Coroner’s Court. Right, his sister Rosie outside court
A pathologist told the hearing a ‘sharp knife’ was used with ‘moderate force’ to cause the fatal stab wound.
A post-mortem revealed that Vincent was ‘experiencing the effects of cocaine and heroin’ at the time of his death.
Vincent’s sister today denied her brother was violent, telling the inquest that he ‘deserved to live.’
Dr Simon Poole, who carried out the post-portem on Vincent, said: ‘I concluded from toxicology tests that results are consistent with use of both cocaine and heroin.’
He added the amount of drugs was consistent with Vincent ‘experiencing the effects’ of them.
The coroner then heard a short clip of audio from Body Worn Footage taken from police officers’ clothing on the night of the raid.
In it, Mr Osborn-Brooks can be heard telling officers: ‘I said I have got to get my heart medication out of the drawer.
‘He let me go and I went over and grabbed that knife out of the knife block and I threatened him with it and he ran out through the front door. When he got into the porch he picked up our green box and tried to hit me with it.
‘He shut the door and yelled at his mate: ‘get out quickly he’s got a knife’. The mate came running down the stairs and he had a sharp implement in his hand.
‘He said ‘come near me and I’ll stick you’.
‘I said ‘well mine is bigger than yours’ and I stabbed him. It went in about four inches.’
But in a statement, a detective leading the investigation said Mr Osborn-Brooks had told her Vincent ‘ran into his knife’ and he did not intentionally stab him.
She arrested the pensioner for GBH but he was later released without charge.
Mr Osborn-Brooks and his wife Maureen were not allowed to return to their home after the incident for their own safety.
Giving evidence today, Rosie Vincent was questioned by the coroner about whether she knew her brother would be going to the house in Hither Green.
Senior coroner Andrew Harris said: ‘Did you have any discussion with your brother about his going to this household? Did he know Mr Osborn-Brooks?’
She replied: ‘As far as I know, no.’
The coroner continued: ‘Was he a man of short temper or violence?’
Ms Vincent said: ‘My brother was not a violent person. He was a father, he was a son he was a brother. No-one deserves to die.’
Asked if there was anything the family particularly wanted to come out of the hearing, she continued: ‘Will we ever understand? Will we ever understand?’
Mr Harris said: ‘You want to understand as much as you can from these proceedings what happened?’
Vincent’s sister said: ‘Yes, thank you very much’.
Mr Osborn-Brooks was woken in the early hours of April 4 by two men breaking into the 1920s terraced house in Hither Green
A police officer called to the scene at Hither Green said he found three people standing in the road when he arrived and Vincent lying on the road.
The officer said he performed CPR for 15 minutes until the London Ambulance Service arrived. Vincent was taken by ambulance to hospital but pronounced dead at 3.47am, the coroner heard.
The inquest continues.