If you want a snapshot of what is wrong with policing in this country, cast your gaze on Hither Green. This was where career criminal, Henry Vincent, was fatally stabbed last week with the screwdriver he intended to use on pensioner, Richard Osborn-Brooks.
After a tragic accident, I can understand why the family and friends of a deceased person would erect a shrine near the spot they had been killed. But for the family of Henry Vincent to erect a shrine in his memory opposite the house he was burgling at the time he was stabbed in an act of self defence on Mr. Osborn-Brooks behalf, is sickening.
The shine has been repeatedly destroyed by angry residents, and every time it is destroyed, the deceased criminal's family return again with fresh flowers and cards. They must have some money to spend in order to keep doing that, and we know that it wasn't earned lawfully. Some of the messages say that Vincent had a "heart of gold" and was "too good to walk the earth". Of course he was. That's why he spent his life conning and robbing vulnerable elderly people.
So what are the police doing about this? Nothing. They say that they can't intervene. Erecting a shrine like this is perfectly legal. The Met has even threatened local residents with arrest. Mr Obsorn-Brooks can't live in his own home because there are fears that his life could be in danger. No prizes for guessing who want him killed. None other than the family of "the best daddy in the world" who had a "heart of gold".
The Met really needs to get a grip. Vincent's death was not a tragedy, despite what the Met's Deputy Commissioner, Sir Craig Mackey thinks. This far from model citizen with a heart of gold could have easily used the screwdriver he brought with him and killed an innocent pensioner. His accomplice, Billy Jeeves, who still hasn't been caught by the police, was more than willing to threaten Mr. Osborn-Brooks' wife - a lady suffering with dementia - whilst Vincent was ready to kill or maim her husband.
It's time the Met thought about the true victims here, instead of pandering to a criminal family who have no regard for anyone else other than their ilk.