Poll: Poll: Shall we allow deadly force on a burgular?

[Sulu]

Just seen this story

Spoiler

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8328012.stm

Where some lads have broken into a house and one was stabbed to death and the house owner has been charged with the murder. Personally I don't think the owner should be prosecuted as I take a stanley knife with me to investigate strange night time noises, plus you never know what the burgulars had planned for the owner.
So escapists, do you think this fellow was in the right to defend himself or did he go too far?

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

I think it is perfectly fine. They're the scum trying to burgle you. You just act upon that scum. With something sharp. Or blunt, depending on your preference.

 

[dommyuk]

If the burglar threatens you then I'd consider it acceptable to use lethal force. Why the hell should the life of the innocent be lost in favor of the criminals?

 

[Robert632]

he had a right to defend himself, plus, how would he know they wouldn't come up and murder him and his family(if he has one.), to. but i guess i can see why he might(i still don't a gree with it mind you.) he might get charged for murder, as the kid he killed is somebodies kid, unless there un-adopted orphens.

 

[Cargando]

Well, murder is worse than burglary, so no. Attacking them, then yes. In this case, the owner should go to prison for murder, and the burglar should go to prison for burglary. Simple.

 

[Warrior Irme]

Only do enough damage to subdue the burglar until police can arrive.

 

[Urgh76]

it's perfectly fine as long as you don't kill them and have good evidence by cutting yourself to show that it was self defense

 

[Timotei]

It's called self defense. Simple.

And besides, once someone trespasses onto your property they relinquish all of thier rights to sue for anythign dome to them. If you are shot because you broke into someone's house, that is your own damn fault.

 

[Chester41585]

In the U.S., the mentality is that it's better to kill the burglar. This prevents them from suing you for trying to kill them. Personally, the moment you decided to break into my house (a crime) with intent to commit more criminal activities, you've also decided to forfeit the idea that your life is valuable.

 

[Kaboose the Moose]

I wouldn't actively murder a would-be burglar but if someone is trying to relieve me of my hard earned possessions I will see to it that they go to the hospital with their tibia lodged firmly in their rectum. Simple as that!. If they are armed then yes, I would use deadly force in order to protect my valuables and loved ones. They have no business breaking and entering my property anyway, if they do so while armed then they will suffer the consequences.

 

[Destal]

Yes, because honestly I don't know if the burglar broke into my house to steal some shit or rape my wife. Frankly, I am sure as hell not going to take the chance to find out which it is. You broke onto my property to do god knows what, you lost any benefit of the doubt.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Not when they are trying to get away.

One of the stabbees was 14, that is a kid. The other one was 17, that is legally a kid. If they had gotten a pasting I wouldn't batter an eyelid, but to be stabbed to death?

 

[xxcloud417xx]

If you are caught in a fight with a burglar then you should kill them. The simple reason is that if he is injured in your home (regardless of him being a trespasser or not) he can sue you for the injury he sustained in your home. (This has happened to a burglar tripping in some stairs and hurting himself. The Home owner was sued and the burglar won the case.) If the burglar is dead, he cannot defend himself in court and you can simply say it was self defense.

 

[ToxinArrow]

The article doesn't mention whether the burglars attacked him or not, so this whole thread seems pointless since we don't know the details.

But regardless, if they did attack him, he has every right to defend himself with whatever action he sees fit to neutralize the situation. If they didn't attack him, lethal force shouldn't have been used, but since we can't read his mind and see what his INTENT (which is the key word in any crime) was, murder or manslaughter would be appropriate charges, depending on the situation.

 

[Nickolai77]

Difficult issues really, because the house owner could easily say that he acted in self defense, whilst the other surviving burglar would testify that the house owner acted aggressively. They are the only two witnesses, and both are bias. So it's hard to prove anything.

Ideally an individual should be able to act too defend themselves and their own property against illegitimate invasion. Providing the property owner used force only to defend himself or his property, or others around him or her, then i see using violent means as justified. If it leads to the death of a burglar, then the property owner has done no wrong.

 

[Iron Mal]

If a guy breaks into your house and threatens to harm you then I don't see what makes it wrong to lamp them in the face.

The use of force in self defence shouldn't be banned as much as it should be discouraged and used with caution (I still remember the case in the US of the man who shot a fellow who was robbing his next door neibor despite the fact that the police told him on fourteen occasions not to confront the intruder).

 

[kahlzun]

I can't say, i've never confronted a burgular.

But, I can see the need for an effective deterrant to intruders.

However, death is probably going too far.

Yes, my first instinct when feeling threatened in my house is to arm myself with something; but I have no intent to do anything more than scare off or incapacitate an intruder.

If a death results from your actions, then it is under "unnecessary force", as you could have probably restrained yourself.

That being said, if someone comes to you, anywhere, with intent to harm you, self-defence kicks in... but you still have to not transgress "necessary force" unless it reaches that level.

fun fact: 'self defence' rules apply when you defend ANYONE, not just yourself or family

 

[TheHappo]

Wow, that Medical Centre is about 5 minutes from where I live ^^
But no, you can't just kill anyone who happens to be in your house; this guy was unlawful.
The law here is to use reasonable force. You should have the right to defend yourself and your property, but you shouldn't set out to kill someone in your house.

 

[asdasdasdasda]

If he was attacked or not, it should be his right to defend himself, and his property. That said, stabbing them to death is quite extreme. If he could have restrained them he should have done so.

 

[Captain Pancake]

Well, this is nottingham after all. To you americans, nottingham's exactly how robin hood portrays it, minus the romantic galavanting. Just think the shit town run by taxes.

I jest, it's just a generally shit town. But on the plus, it does have warhammer world.