Thief In Your House!

[wimp]

If a thief breaks into your house and you injure them, you could end up in court and you could be prosecuted.The law should be leaning more on the householders side! As far as i'm concerned if someone breaks into my house that's where their rights end and i would protect my family with my last breath! You dont know if the thief has a knife or gun,your concern is for your family and to stop the thief,whatever way it takes! The householder is the victim!! not the other way about!

[factor-fiction]

Yes, if you use excessive force you could end up in court, but it rarely happens as far as I know.

[pusskin]

My husband would go potty and make mincemeat of them and think after!
Our house --our property.

[AB Editor]

Are you saying you wouldn't protect your family for fear of some legal come back?

OR are you saying you reserve the right to tie up and Chinese water torture any trespassers?

OR do you think that the term "reasonable force," which is the phrase used currently in law doesn't cover your needs for protecting your family?

[Orderlimit]

http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/householders.html

[Barmaid]

http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/householders.html

That's what the CPS have to say about this.

[queenofmean]

I agree in a way. My house my property my belongings, hell mend anybody that comes near my house and my family without my permission. I have a hockey stick and my lord I know how to use it and if need be use it I will

[woofgang]

wimp what are you jumping up and down about?

[AB Editor]

pusskin, I think mincing would be too harsh, tenderising would probably be acceptable.

It states that even if someone if making a dash for it you can use some force to return property or make a citizen arrest:

"A rugby tackle or a single blow would probably be reasonable."

Just make it a good one :)

[Barmaid]

Probably not a good idea to shoot them in the back and leave them to bleed to death though.

[emmie]

if one comes into my home he/she will have to look out for the howitzers aimed at their heads, the landmines by the door, and the bruce willis lookalike waiting in the cupboard to pounce.

[aelmpvw]

in the extreme scenario where a burglar was tied and water tortured he would only have himself to blame wouldn't he?

[Barmaid]

Unfortunately ael, I think you might then face charges of assault and false imprisonment.

Anyone breaking in here first has to run the gauntlet of the rubbish behind the fence and the chicken Sugar on the patio (lethal), the pile of law books just inside the back door (cleverly placed trip hazard) and at least one cat asleep on the stairs.

[FredPuli43]

And what the CPS says [link,above] is the law AND has been the law for centuries. It's a mystery where this urban myth that the householder is guilty, as soon as he uses force against a burglar, has come from. One of the first cases I knew at first hand was a scrap metal dealer who shot an intruder in his yard, using a shotgun. The judge at Inner London Sessions, now Inner London Crown Court, didn't stop the case at half time,the close of the prosecution case, because there was,in theory, a case to answer, but he wasted no time in his summing up in effectively telling the jury to acquit, which they soon did.

[Bazile]

//I agree in a way. My house my property my belongings, hell mend anybody that comes near my house and my family without my permission. I have a hockey stick and my lord I know how to use it and if need be use it I will //

queenofmean

' ..near my house .. '

Since I dont know where you live - and i could well be in your neck of the woods ; am i alright to pass you house , say at a distance of ten metres ; or am i risking a broken hockey over my cranium ?

[pusskin]

Lol ED Well, i said mincemeat, but propobly bit bigger bits than that, haha

[aelmpvw]

barmaid ... if the burglar breaks his leg falling over the sleeping cat there's a good chance that he will sue you

[Barmaid]

lol, he could try. Plus I would counter sue for injury to the cat. ;)

[FredPuli43]

Quite right BM ! The trespasser is not protected by the Occupiers' Liability Acts 1957 and 1984 because the cat is not part of the structure or premises,and it being a nearly permanent fitting on the staircase does not make it so. But the intruder's tortious act causing injury,pain and suffering, shock,loss of amenity, loss of earnings ( catching mice) etc is definitely actionable. And BM might get a few quid for shock as well.

[woofgang]

IIRC the Tony Martin trial was when it first surfaced.