A victim of the armed burglar who died struggling with a pensioner in a botched break-in at his home today declared: “Good riddance.”

Career criminal Henry Vincent, 37, was being hunted by police for an earlier burglary when he died from a stab wound during the confrontation at the home of Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, in south-east London on Wednesday.

Vincent was on the Kent Police most-wanted list, suspected of a series of burglaries on vulnerable elderly people.

Today, one of his former victims told the Standard how he had been conned by Vincent in a distraction burglary at his home in Farmingham, Kent, in November last year.

Cyril Goodearl, 78, today told of his anger after heirlooms including jewellery were stolen from his home in the burglary.

The retired aerospace engineer said: “I found out it was the same bloke yesterday and I thought it’s a jolly good job.

“At least we are not keeping him in prison for the rest of his life. Good riddance.”

Mr Goodearl told how a woman knocked on his door claiming in apparent distress. He let her in and made her coffee but while he was doing so she opened his front door and an accomplice - believed to be Henry Vincent - stole a red jewellery box from an upstairs bedroom.

Mr Goodearl was unaware of the theft for two weeks until police found the stolen box and contacted him.

He said: “I only saw the woman in the house. Then two men pulled up in a van with their hoods up. She got in and they drove away.

“I noticed the latch had been put up on the front door when it blew open a few hours later.But I only knew the jewellery was gone when police contacted me two weeks later.”

He said: “I was angry when I found out. You do something to help someone, do them a good turn, and they rob you.”

Mr Goodearl said the box, still containing his mother’s engagement and wedding ring and his father’s signet ring, had since been recovered by police and he is waiting for it to be returned.

He backed Mr Osborn-Brooks’ alleged actions to protect his home, saying: “Of course he did the right thing. I like to think I would do the same if I had known.”

Mr Osborn-Brooks, a retired RAC office manager and keen chess player, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and released on bail yesterday following 24 hours in custody.

He remains under investigation amid mounting anger from friends and neighbours near his home in South Park Crescent, Hither Green.

He had been asleep beside his disabled wife Maureen, 76, when two men broke in the house just after midnight on Wednesday and threatened them with a screwdriver.

Vincent was stabbed in the chest after forcing the homeowner into his kitchen as his accomplice went upstairs to ransack the property.

The burglar staggered out of the house and into a near-by street before collapsing. Police believe his accomplice drove off in a white van.

Vincent’s family today claimed the father-of-four had “fallen in with the wrong crowd” and was a “gentle giant”.

A relative said: “He was wrong to do a burglary, I agree, but he didn’t deserve to die because of it.

“He was a gentle giant with three beautiful girls and what happened to him was wrong.”

However it has emerged members of Vincent’s extended family had been jailed for a total of 54 years for preying on elderly and vulnerable people around the South East.

He was jailed for four and a half years in 2003 along with his father Henry Charles Vincent. The pair were again jailed for six years in 2011 for their role in fleecing pensioners out of thousands of pounds for bogus home repairs.

Norfolk farmer Tony Martin, who served three years in prison for shooting a 16-year-old burglar at his home in 1999, said: “I would have done the same thing if I was in Richard’s situation. He is not a criminal, he’s just a very unlucky man to be caught up in the muck of other people and legislation.”

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding said: “I would like to speak with anyone who has information regarding the outstanding suspect from the burglary, who is believed to be a white male.

“It is possible that he fled the scene in a vehicle, possibly a white van.”

Anyone with information can contact the incident room on 020 8721 4205 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.