My Dad was never a man to pull his punches. When I left home aged 21, his farewell gift to me was his .22 rifle and a box of bullets. ‘Keep it under your bed,’ he said. ‘Loaded but with the safety catch on. Aim for the groin.’ Extreme you might think. (This was Australia in the Eighties when firearms laws were more relaxed). But it dinned into me the notion that your home is your castle, and everyone has an inalienable right to defend themselves against intruders. Richard Osborn-Brooks, 79, (pictured) 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 No, I never shot at anyone and no longer have it, but memories of that rifle flooded back this week when a coroner ruled pensioner Richard Osborn-Brooks had ‘lawfully killed’ a burglar who broke into his home. Two masked men forced their way into his house after midnight in April last year as his ailing wife lay upstairs in bed. Terrified, he did what most of us hope we would have the courage to do — grabbed a 12-inch kitchen knife and tried to get rid of them. Henry Vincent, high on cocaine and heroin and armed with a screwdriver, was injured in the struggle and died three hours later. Mr Osborn-Brooks was woken in the early hours of April 4 by two men breaking into the 1920s terraced house in Hither Green The coroner’s ruling that retired RAC manager Mr Osborn-Brooks acted in self-defence is a victory for common sense that will have reassured homeowners. Yet, as the Mail highlighted yesterday, it can’t feel like that to Mr Osborn-Brooks. He was arrested on suspicion of murder, while Vincent’s family and fellow members of the travelling community turned the road outside his house into a Princess Diana-like shrine to their lost ‘brother’. Osborn-Brooks and his wife have had to leave their home and live in a secret location, with new identities away from friends because Vincent’s community has sworn to avenge his death. The police take these threats so seriously he had to give evidence to the Coroner’s Court via videolink, his face obscured. This is a story that hits at the hearts of all us who live in fear of the rising tide of violence in our streets. Yes, the homeowner was cleared, having defended his frail wife and his home. But Mr Osborn-Brooks and his wife are serving a life sentence. Dad would never have called that justice. Jennifer Lopez is pictured attending a film set in Manhattan clutching a handbag in the shape of a $10,000 wad of notes A Lo class look! Multi-millionairess actress and singer Jennifer Lopez steps out in half a dress held together by safety pins, clutching a handbag in the shape of a $10,000 wad of notes. Isn’t there a point when celebrity cash-flashing just becomes obscene? While we await the arrival of Baby Sussex and are treated to the Cambridges releasing adorable pictures of daughter Charlotte’s fourth birthday, the Countess of Wessex has been in India quietly representing the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Trust, which funds premature baby units. Sophie’s choice is to focus on vulnerable newborns in far-flung countries — poignantly so, as she lost one baby and then almost died giving birth to another. No wonder the Queen adores her. Song to remember Dad Forget Britain’s Got Talent’s sob stories, the real reality-TV heartbreaker is the BBC’s Our Dementia Choir, hosted by Line Of Duty’s Vicky McClure who lost her gran to Alzheimer’s. They sang Stand By Me to celebrate the wedding of chorister, Daniel Bradbury, who has early onset dementia at just 32. A dad of twins, he’s unlikely to remember them growing up. But they’ll always have the memory of their father singing in a performance that reduced everyone to tears. They sang Stand By Me to celebrate the wedding of chorister, Daniel Bradbury, who has early onset dementia at just 32. A dad of twins, he’s unlikely to remember them growing up Life's winners... in the slow lane When the London Marathon began in 1981 one of its principles was ‘to show mankind that, on occasions, they can be united’. This year slower runners who raise millions for charities were heckled by officials keen to clean up. Jack Glenny, who raised £6,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, was told: ‘Run, fat boy, run.’ More than three quarters of competitors now run for a good cause, having raised over £1billion. It’s not the highly-paid elite athletes like Mo Farah we should celebrate, but those like Jack, who may come about last in the race — but win in the marathon of life. Twelve years after Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, Met boss Cressida Dick is asking the Home Office for another £300,000 on top of the £12 million already spent to keep searching for her. All well and good. But how many hundreds of thousands will there be for the other children who’ve gone missing? Westminster Wars My instincts were to support Gavin Williamson when he was sacked as Defence Secretary — until he said he ‘swore on his children’s lives’ he hadn’t lied. The last man who swore on his kids’ lives to me, after I accused him of having an affair, turned out to have had a blonde secretary on the side for a year.What can save Theresa May now she’s been trounced at the local elections and is locked in a potentially lethal battle after sacking one of the few loyalists in her Cabinet? Only the arrival of a new royal baby will give her respite from the headlines. Come on Megs, your new country needs you!When Corbynite MP Fiona Onasanya was convicted of lying to police over a speeding offence, she said she was like Jesus, innocent yet persecuted. To her constituents, who have kicked her out, she resembled Jezebel — a deceitful princess who spent her last moments in denial, before servants threw her out of the palace window.After a teenager with Down’s syndrome was mocked online when her dad posted a video of her dancing in a Harry Kane footy shirt, the England captain invited her as his special guest to the final Spurs game of the season. ‘Keep dancing!’ he messaged Ella Markham on Twitter. Just sometimes, it is a beautiful game. Susanna's match Since her romance ended with millionaire Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish, Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid has posted a selfie of herself looking deliciously dishevelled, make-up free and ‘with her early morning face’, and appeared on the cover of a magazine resplendent in a frothy tulle dress. She says she no longer needs to try to be perfect. Like football, romance can be a game of two halves. I hope that Susanna and her footy lover are just taking a half-time break — and still have the second half to play together. Some have been quick to criticise that other Susannah — Susannah Constantine — after the married mum and What Not To Wear TV star revealed she’s suffered from crippling anxiety for decades. It’s only because women like Susannah have come clean about mental health issues, encouraging others to voice and accept their own troubles, that some people can even start thinking about what to wear. It's curious that one should feel so sad about the death of Peter Mayhew, the man who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. We never saw his real face, and he didn’t speak any language other than ‘Gggggaaaaaaarrrrr’ and ‘Arrrrhhhn’. Yet Chewie’s expressive howls and growls communicated more to us about the human condition than wooden, one-dimensional Han Solo ever did. It's curious that one should feel so sad about the death of Peter Mayhew, the man who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. He is pictured during filming of Revenge of the Sith In the week a 15-year-old was stabbed to death in London — the eighth teenager killed in the capital this year — we learn that half the London Mayor’s £15 million emergency budget to tackle violent crime was spent policing the Extinction Rebellion protests. Yes, the eco-warriors are fighting for our future, but how tragic that it may have been at the expense of lads like musician Tashaun Jones, who has no future.All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility