Police have attempted to defuse tensions ignited by the death of an intruder in south-east London amid an ongoing struggle over flower tributes which his family have placed at the scene but which have repeatedly been torn down.

A fence that flowers and cards had been attached to lay bare on Thursday after they were torn down on Wednesday for the fourth time. They had been put up again by relatives and friends of Henry Vincent, 37, who died after a struggle with Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, on 4 April.

A few yards along the street in Hither Green, police stood outside Osborn-Brooks’ home and kept a watchful eye on a crowd of reporters and photographers who had assembled in expectation of a protest, billed online as being in support of the local community.

About 200 people have joined a closed Facebook group that says it has been set up to arrange a peaceful protest to support residents of South Park Crescent, which it claimed are being “taunted by a constant shrine that is being set up by Henry Vincent’s family”.

“This group is not soft so feel free to post your concerns or frustrations about the situation, the press or the police,” it adds.

However, the few residents who were prepared to speak as they passed the scene said they were unaware of any such protest. In at least one of the cases where the tributes to Vincent were torn down, the person responsible said he had come from another part of London to do so.

On Wednesday, a local resident pulled down the flowers, shouting: “These are scumbags, scumbags, scumbags. We’ve had enough in this country of scumbags.”

Police later urged the public to respect the family’s wishes, but the Metropolitan police deputy commissioner, Sir Craig Mackey, said the area had become a focus for disruption and required a police presence.

“This is a tragedy for the family who have lost a loved one. It is also a tragedy for the homeowner forced to take the action he did,” he said. “It would have been preferable if the pavement had remained clear and the local area had not become the focus of disruption which then needed police resources to manage.”

Play Video 0:57 Hither Green floral tributes torn down for fourth time – video report

Lewisham borough council is considering how the flowers and other items can be managed. Mackey said: “Laying flowers is not a crime.”

“We want those laying flowers to respect the local people and the impact on them. Those opposed to the flowers should act responsibly, respectfully and reasonably,” he said.

“As the borough commander said yesterday, we don’t want anyone – the local people or those visiting the scene – to feel intimidated.”

Stephen Langley-Hart, 72, who lived in the area in the past and was passing by where the flowers had stood, said he had sympathy for the Vincent family in that they had to grieve, but he hoped that the street could be “left alone now”.

“It’s terribly sad, a man of 37 with children has died, but he shouldn’t have been doing what he was doing. What’s the saying? ‘You live by the sword, you die by the sword.’”

“People are forgetting somewhat that an elderly couple lived here and this man was burgling them. They will probably never be able to get back here again because of the circumstances. What are they going to do? You have got to grieve, even given the circumstances, but it can be done in a better way. Not opposite the house. Perhaps if there are going to be flowers then they should be left at the hospital where he died.”



Police are appealing for information about Billy Jeeves, Vincent’s alleged accomplice, who remains at large.







