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Original poster

78 pensioner arrested for fatally stabbing burglar in his own home

999 replies

SShaming · 04/04/2018 12:20

2 burglars break into a 78 year old man’s home armed with screwdriver.

Forces owner into the kitchen whilst one of them goes upstairs.

A fight ensues, leaving pensioner with injuries to his arm and burglary is fatally stabbed. Perhaps with his own screwdriver although this is TBC.

Police arrest pensioner.

On what planet is this right?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Viviennemary · 06/04/2018 23:07

I agree that he isn't a vigilante. A vigilante is somebody who tracks down and goes after criminals. This man did not do that.

Trumpdump · 06/04/2018 23:09

@LaurieFairyCake

No, they don't deserve abuse. However, they clearly knew what he was up to, and several of them were evidently involved. If the family want my sympathy, they need to start by showing sympathy for the poor old man and wife whose life they've ruined. Instead, the burglar's family are bleating on about what a "nice guy" this prick was!

stitchglitched · 06/04/2018 23:11

Agreed so arguing that he didn't deserve to die when it has been ruled a clear case of self defence makes no sense to me- if he hadn't died then Mr Osborn-Brooks or his wife may have. I don't think anyone is advocating for the death penalty to be introduced for burglary but I hardly think this man is the poster boy for an undeserved death when it has been ruled lawful and may have saved the lives of two innocent people.

nancy75 · 06/04/2018 23:12

Looking at the criminal history of some of the family I think abuse is exactly what they deserve. People that prey on the elderly & vunerable are hardly the type we want to hold up as examples of how we should live our lives.

Scabetty · 06/04/2018 23:14

Are reports stating this was a family gang who targetted the elderly, conning them out of thousands, false then? That is presumably why they are getting abuse.

LaurieFairyCake · 06/04/2018 23:15

If there is evidence they are actually involved in committing crimes then the police will arrest them - I have seen nothing to suggest that in the press

Nor have I seen any of his family quoted as saying ‘oh yeah I knew where he was out robbing on Tuesdat’

I am firmly on the side of the homeowner here by the way and still glad that he was arrested, investigated and not charged as now due process has happened. I very much hope his wife and him recovers from their ordeal.

stitchglitched · 06/04/2018 23:20

This is his family- though one of his relatives has been reported as saying he fell in with the wrong crowd Hmm

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5586607/The-crime-clan-thats-preyed-pensioners-two-decades.html

LaurieFairyCake · 06/04/2018 23:21

The people being talked about on here (the family ‘gang’) are cousins.

I have literally no idea about any of my cousins. So I’m not really going along with the daily mail idea of ‘family’.

nancy75 · 06/04/2018 23:21

I’d say he was born into the wrong crowd

nancy75 · 06/04/2018 23:23

Laurie one of his previous convictions was alongside his dad & five of his uncles for crimes they committed together

stitchglitched · 06/04/2018 23:24

It was a cousin defending him on TV yesterday.

SaucyJane · 06/04/2018 23:28

That's why I said upthread that Henry Vincent clearly had no chance himself - his dad and uncle were committing crimes when he was a boy.

Some of the papers have reported vile things posted by a cousin online about "old bastards" deserving to get ripped off and being easy pickings, and hoping that they have to take out a second mortgage and then lose their house. It's like they see older people as somehow a different species AngryConfused

Scabetty · 06/04/2018 23:31

Some of their scam victims are providing stories about their antics so we will get a true picture in due course.

nancy75 · 06/04/2018 23:32

They are from a group of people that see themselves as being outside of our laws, the people they rob & defraud are not ‘one of them’ so they don’t matter

Numbkinnuts · 06/04/2018 23:32

They saw the elderly not as a different species but as easy prey.

Easy prey for a bunch of cowards.

The more I read about that family the more 😡 I get.

Trumpdump · 06/04/2018 23:36

That's why I can't have much sympathy for the "scorn" they're receiving. Half of them deserve to be in jail! I haven't heard any of them offer sympathy to the family whose life they've ruined?

Moreover, the accomplice, who is believed to be a family member, still hasn't been found, I believe? Why are they protecting him? Makes it very difficult for me to have sympathy for the abuse they're getting.

I hope the Guardian responds to the feedback they're getting and edits the article.

Scabetty · 06/04/2018 23:39

I am uncharacteristically unsympathetic to this criminal and his bleating family.

TabbyMack · 06/04/2018 23:40

Chooseusername1

(I am not actually a high court judge, but please keep that to yourself...I think I have everyone else fooled).

You said that my comments would not stand up to scrutiny. I was referring to an individual responding with excessive force which would be considered an offence, even if in defence of themself or their home

That wasn’t what you were originally saying. You claimed that it used to be the case that anyone killing an intruder would be automatically charged with murder because they were expected under every circumstance to leave the house rather than confront. The Nally case changed that.

This simply isn’t true. In all cases, killing someone should be the very last resort...for obvious reasons. If there are better and more immediate ways of defending yourself (like leaving, as that would be a defensive action) they should be taken, if they safely can be.

In Nally’s case he shot an unarmed man who was kneeling in front of him twice. On the face of it, he didn’t need to...he had a gun pointed at the man. This is why he was initially convicted and why the first judge refused to even allow the jury to consider self-defence because he wasn’t shooting to defend himself against harm.

When he appealed and the case eventually re-retried he was acquited. This was because of the state of mind years and months of being terrorised by burglars had an impact on his actions.

The law was not changed as a result of the case...a common law provision was added to the statute books. In practice, nothing actually changed and no extra rights were afforded to householders.

Self-defence and what it actually means is fascinating. Pistorius blew his claim of it out of the water the moment he said, “I didn’t mean to shoot anyone”. With self-defence, you DO mean to shoot because you think you have to. He was effectively saying “I didn’t mean to defend myself” which is absurd. All he had left after that as a defence to murder was insanity or accident. And since a panel of psychiatrists said he was sane, and no one shoots four neat shots into a door by accident he ended up convicted of murder.

TabbyMack · 06/04/2018 23:46

I find all the “I have no sympathy for the scum” posts really childish. Who says you have to?

Richard is not a hero or a vigilante. He’s a human being who did what he had to in the moment. I bet he’d rather it went some other way...killing a human being, no matter what the circumstances, has a devastating impact on any decent person.

I hope he has lots of people to talk to & is able to find some peace. Such a petrifying experience.

Trumpdump · 06/04/2018 23:54

@TabbyMack

I disagree. This man is a hero. He refused to be bullied by these thugs and courageously stood up for himself and his wife. He put his life in danger. That is heroic.

RawhideRingpiece · 07/04/2018 00:03

This reply has been deleted

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Aeroflotgirl · 07/04/2018 00:12

They are nasty and disgusting. I am so pleased no charges will be placed.

TabbyMack · 07/04/2018 00:34

Trumpdump

That’s your rather Hollywoodish narrative for which you have precisely no evidence. Real life isn’t like that & I doubt he went into the kitchen to “stand up for himself”.

Calling him a “hero” implies he intended the outcome. I would be surprised if that was true. It’s more likely the poor guy was ambushed.

Gottagetmoving · 07/04/2018 08:16

The family are not doing themselves any favours by saying Henry Vincent was murdered and not showing any concern for the couple he was trying to rob However, his daughters and young cousins have been getting some vile abuse on social media.

BakedBeans47 · 07/04/2018 08:20

Richard is not a hero or a vigilante. He’s a human being who did what he had to in the moment. I bet he’d rather it went some other way...killing a human being, no matter what the circumstances, has a devastating impact on any decent person.

Agree. Even if the other person brought it on themselves by their actions, and the law decided I wasn’t criminally liable, I wouldn’t like to be responsible for having caused the death of someone. I think it would be very traumatic