High Court: Homeowners can use 'disproportionate force' against burglars

Burnsy2023 said:
No absolutely nothing has changed. This is a completely pointless article.

You always had the right to use reasonable force in the circumstances to defend yourself. Because the circumstances might dictate that you are missing information that is relevant and therefore you may use disproportionate force, this has always been allowed for. It also accounts for people's lack of training, the shock of being put in that situation and other human factors, but again, this is nothing new.
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so I guess a policeman who has been trained in restraint procedures generally has to be a bit more careful when restraining people whereas an ordinary untrained citizen who grabs someone(thief, burglar etc..) round the neck in a sort of attempt at a choke hold can be excused if some damage occurs
 
This ruling isn’t going to help people like me, female, weighing in at 110 pounds on a good day, and living way out in the sticks in a 5 bed roomed home. The thought of being burgled or worse isn’t the reason that I own three dogs (or did until a month or so ago, when one had to be put to sleep), I’ve owned and been around dogs all my life. But having them does give one a sense of protection. Two of the three dogs are extremely territorial and good alert dogs; altho one of them was the one that had to be put to sleep, and I will have to replace her. The other dog would lick any intruder to death; but an intruder wouldn’t know that at first, and would be put off by the size of him.

Despite having sensor floodlights and an alarm, and the dogs tho, I can’t honestly say that I could take on an intruder if he were to get past those obstacles previous mentioned. Not everyone is capable or has the strength to meet head on such a situation. The current laws have to change, in my humble opinion. I could handle a baseball bat, and wield it menacingly, tho I doubt if I would have the strength to hurt an intruder enough to render him unconscious; but I could no more pick up a knife and threaten someone with it than I could fly to the moon every third Wednesday. Altho I suspect that one gains mental and physical strength when one finds themselves in such dire situations, I ain't in any hurry to test the theory out...

I’ve been burgled several times; twice when I was out of the country and out of harms way; and once had an attempted burglary whilst home alone and asleep. However, once the guy (whom I saw thro the French windows when I awoke, and whom was bathed in clear light from the patio floodlight) saw and heard my three dogs kicking up a storm of barking, plus that I’d picked up my cell and appeared to be calling the cops (I was actually calling my Uncle Tommy whom lives five miles down the road; it would take the cops forever to get here), he took off.

I’ve actually got an air rifle somewhere in the house, but even if I could hold it steady on my shoulder, pulling the trigger would very likely land me flat on my back. lol

I think it’s outrageous that the family of the intruder are able to sue the homeowner, absolutely outrageous; and no doubt the UK taxpayers would have footed the readies for the recent case, as they will do if the case is taken to the European Court Of Human Rights. A criminal is a criminal, why should they have better rights than the victims of their crimes? The family of the comatose criminal are nuts to think that they have a case at all, but under the laws of the land, they ruddy well do. It’s madness…
 
Laurie said:
This ruling isn’t going to help people like me, female, weighing in at 110 pounds on a good day, and living way out in the sticks in a 5 bed roomed home. The thought of being burgled or worse isn’t the reason that I own three dogs (or did until a month or so ago, when one had to be put to sleep), I’ve owned and been around dogs all my life. But having them does give one a sense of protection. Two of the three dogs are extremely territorial and good alert dogs; altho one of them was the one that had to be put to sleep, and I will have to replace her. The other dog would lick any intruder to death; but an intruder wouldn’t know that at first, and would be put off by the size of him.

Despite having sensor floodlights and an alarm, and the dogs tho, I can’t honestly say that I could take on an intruder if he were to get past those obstacles previous mentioned. Not everyone is capable or has the strength to meet head on such a situation. The current laws have to change, in my humble opinion. I could handle a baseball bat, and wield it menacingly, tho I doubt if I would have the strength to hurt an intruder enough to render him unconscious; but I could no more pick up a knife and threaten someone with it than I could fly to the moon every third Wednesday. Altho I suspect that one gains mental and physical strength when one finds themselves in such dire situations, I ain't in any hurry to test the theory out...

I’ve been burgled several times; twice when I was out of the country and out of harms way; and once had an attempted burglary whilst home alone and asleep. However, once the guy (whom I saw thro the French windows when I awoke, and whom was bathed in clear light from the patio floodlight) saw and heard my three dogs kicking up a storm of barking, plus that I’d picked up my cell and appeared to be calling the cops (I was actually calling my Uncle Tommy whom lives five miles down the road; it would take the cops forever to get here), he took off.

I’ve actually got an air rifle somewhere in the house, but even if I could hold it steady on my shoulder, pulling the trigger would very likely land me flat on my back. lol

I think it’s outrageous that the family of the intruder are able to sue the homeowner, absolutely outrageous; and no doubt the UK taxpayers would have footed the readies for the recent case, as they will do if the case is taken to the European Court Of Human Rights. A criminal is a criminal, why should they have better rights than the victims of their crimes? The family of the comatose criminal are nuts to think that they have a case at all, but under the laws of the land, they ruddy well do. It’s madness…
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Why do you need a five bedroomed house just for you? Downsize then you can spend the extra on land mines and small arms.
 
Laurie said:
The current laws have to change, in my humble opinion. I could handle a baseball bat, and wield it menacingly, tho I doubt if I would have the strength to hurt an intruder enough to render him unconscious; but I could no more pick up a knife and threaten someone with it than I could fly to the moon every third Wednesday.

...

I think it’s outrageous that the family of the intruder are able to sue the homeowner, absolutely outrageous;
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Change the laws to what? Are you able to point to an example of someone who has been convicted of picking up a baseball bat or knife when an intruder breaks into their home?

Secondly, anyone can sue for anything, doesn't mean they're going to win. It has to be decided by a judge in a court room, you can't have an administrator at the court front desk reject a lawsuit.
 
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George Hincapie said:
Why do you need a five bedroomed house just for you? Downsize then you can spend the extra on land mines and small arms.
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Well, My late husband and I bought it when we first married, and we had started to renovate it when he passed on. We had plans for it... I carried on with the renovations (which are still ongoing) and have spent too much on it to sell on just right now; moreover I don't really want to. It's home, and I need the space, especially the yard space.

Until my Mother retires I don't really want to relocate, and certainly not to anywhere in the UK again.
 
Laurie said:
Well, My late husband and I bought it when we first married, and we had started to renovate it when he passed on. We had plans for it... I carried on with the renovations (which are still ongoing) and have spent too much on it to sell on just right now; moreover I don't really want to. It's home, and I need the space, especially the yard space.

Until my Mother retires I don't really want to relocate, and certainly not to anywhere in the UK again.
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I was being silly, forgive me.

Have you considered installing CCTV? You can put in a decent system quite cheaply; pair it with motion sensitive floodlights on all aspects of the property. Decent locks on windows and doors and locks on the internal doors also. An alarm with PIR sensors linked to a monitoring station who will call the Police is also a good idea. Finally, gravel all around the house; the dogs will hear someone outside much easier and go mental.
 
Uther said:
A common sense judgement.
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Rare but welcome.

Although if I were in the position prior to this ruling, it wouldn't have stopped me using whatever force I deemed necessary to defend my property and my family, the consequences I'd gladly take with my head held high.
 
George Hincapie said:
I was being silly, forgive me.

Have you considered installing CCTV? You can put in a decent system quite cheaply; pair it with motion sensitive floodlights on all aspects of the property. Decent locks on windows and doors and locks on the internal doors also. An alarm with PIR sensors linked to a monitoring station who will call the Police is also a good idea. Finally, gravel all around the house; the dogs will hear someone outside much easier and go mental.
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Got CCTV interior, but have been considering exterior also... All the exterior floodlights are PIR. And you're right about the gravel also; I only have that from the drive gates up to the garage and around to the carport; so that was an excellent suggestion. Thank you... :)
 
Laurie said:
Got CCTV interior, but have been considering exterior also... All the exterior floodlights are PIR. And you're right about the gravel also; I only have that from the drive gates up to the garage and around to the carport; so that was an excellent suggestion. Thank you... :)
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Gravel can be expensive, so perhaps start by placing it around entry points (doors and windows). Or alternatively place it more narrowly all the way around.
 
Congrats.! good to hear that some common sense is still there in the old country.
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this sits next to my bed ....
I do not consider it disproportionate. maybe if I reload then it is.
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it's only 5.56MMx45 if I had the 300 Blackout version that would maybe be
disproportionate. :)
spikes7inchpistolbuildwsig.jpg
 
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