Tories to propose "Batter a Burglar" law

scorza · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:07

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19879314

Basically change the current unclear self-defence laws so that in the event of a home owner using not grossly disproportionate force to defend their household they won't face automatic criminal prosecution. This is something I've long called for with plenty of people telling me the sky will fall in if this doesn't happen. Oh well, here's hoping this becomes law before the Conservative Party are turfed out at the next election.

blueseidboy · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:13

I totally agree with the law but expect it to lead to more violent burglaries as the burglars will go tooled up and a burglar is likely to have less qualms about stabbing someone then a law abiding citizen is.

vanandjuanunited · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:13

blueseidboy said:
I totally agree with the law but expect it to lead to more violent burglaries as the burglars will go tooled up and a burglar is likely to have less qualms about stabbing someone then a law abiding citizen is.

Muffin` · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:15

Conservatives in sense shocker, long may it continue

MrMoonX · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:16

Petty headline grabbing policy to detract from the other more damaging BS the Tories are planning.

As above burglars will now have to arm themselves for fear of getting tackled by some utter moron have ago hero. Whereas before joe blogs probably wouldn't stab them for fear of getting nicked himself

Theophany · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:21

MrMoonX said:
Petty headline grabbing policy to detract from the other more damaging BS the Tories are planning.

As above burglars will now have to arm themselves for fear of getting tackled by some utter moron have ago hero. Whereas before joe blogs probably wouldn't stab them for fear of getting nicked himself

This. The violence will simply escalate.

arknor · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:22

blueseidboy said:
I totally agree with the law but expect it to lead to more violent burglaries as the burglars will go tooled up and a burglar is likely to have less qualms about stabbing someone then a law abiding citizen is.

erm they already are how do you expect them to break into your house without atleast a screwdriver?

Danthus · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:23

It is just populist politics. The law as it stands is fine, in extreme circumstances it would be legal to kill an intruder, the use of force has to be proportional and justifiable. You can't shoot someone in the back that is running away a la Tony Martin.

Freakbro · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:23

I like the way they were using the Tony Martin case on the news as reference to this story, when there are a lot of arguments on here that that case was handled correctly and shooting someone in the back when they are running away is not a proportionate response.

Cosimo · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:23

Muffin` said:
Conservatives in sense shocker, long may it continue

Muel · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:25

Whether people decide to tackle a burglar or not is up to them, but the law should allow for someone to defend their own property.

Personally, I don't think I would take one on, unless it was very clear that I was going to come out on top, but it annoys me that I can be prosecuted for doing so at the moment.

blueseidboy · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:28

Large stone etc even if they had a screwdriver now knifes etc will be more common and burglars will probably be more conscious about defending themselves rather then just grabbing stuff.

The problem we need to tackle is soft sentencing. There should be punishments that are strong enough to discourage burglary. Not suspended sentences etc

Nitefly · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:31

The law was fair as it was. It just seems a desperate attempt to please those that don't understand they aren't going to get the full facts a case from short piece of journalism.

As it's entirely dependant on the facts of the case, it'll be interesting to see how something like this would apply in practice.

If it makes you lot feel safer though.....*shrug*?!

Meridian · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:31

The Tories have just re-stated the current state of the law, then claimed that it's a new policy. There's no new law involved, just some guidance to be issued. If it makes ANY difference, it will make the work of the police much harder in working out what happened, by encouraging them not to arrest the householders. Not arresting them makes questioning them much harder. It will not change the fact that almost no householders ever go to court over self-defence cases. This is fairly basic PR, and nothing else: "address" a trivial but popular issue to distract the plebs from the fact that they are going to be taking it up the **** from the other Party policies.

Nitefly · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:35

Meridian said:
There's no new law involved, just some guidance to be issued.

That's a bit of a misstatement as guidance is often what dominates the entire way a law operates, most obviously in relation to sentencing.

Gogl · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:37

I think it's a disgrace, there are people out there that have worked hard to have nice things that I do not, and now the government is suggesting that people can try and stop me taking it from them!? Outrageous!

As for Mr fluffy wuffy burglarkins turn into mean old nasty tooled up burglar, I'm not buying the argument.

The law is fine as it is except for isolated cases where there was an idiot judge, however in a world where a judge can practically laud a burglar as being brave I think the clarification isn't such a bad thing. Although I fear it could lead to some burglars being deep fried further North.

Nightglow · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:41

Muel said:
Whether people decide to tackle a burglar or not is up to them, but the law should allow for someone to defend their own property.QUOTE]

Long over due, all in favour of the law being change to allow you to defend your property, family, & yourself.

scorza · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:42

Nitefly said:
The law was fair as it was. It just seems a desperate attempt to please those that don't understand they aren't going to get the full facts a case from short piece of journalism.

As it's entirely dependant on the facts of the case, it'll be interesting to see how something like this would apply in practice.

If it makes you lot feel safer though.....*shrug*?!

The law is not fair - there have been too many cases where a home owner has defended their household and instead of being treated like a victim of crime, or a witness to a crime, have been arrested, spent 30 hours in a police cell before facing months of anxiety waiting for a trial while the CPS put together a criminal case against them.

kitch9 · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:44

blueseidboy said:
I totally agree with the law but expect it to lead to more violent burglaries as the burglars will go tooled up and a burglar is likely to have less qualms about stabbing someone then a law abiding citizen is.

You do realise burglars already carry tools yes? Mole grips, (To snap cheap euro locks in 10 seconds.) screwdrivers, (Also to snap cheap euro locks in seconds.) and a hammer will generally get you into a property with cheap euro locks in around 10 seconds. They will also so a decent amount of damage if you are hit / stabbed by them.....

If you have cheap euro locks fitted you should be taking a long hard look at them as burglars will target your house before anyone elses who may require at least a little bit of work to get in.

http://www.avocet-hardware.co.uk/

You need something like these fitted instead.

elmarko · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:55

blueseidboy said:
I totally agree with the law but expect it to lead to more violent burglaries as the burglars will go tooled up and a burglar is likely to have less qualms about stabbing someone then a law abiding citizen is.

This.

Besides, why are people talking about Tony Martin?, a case in which it clearly wasn't self defence?.

Typical Tory announcement, aimed to appease the average Sun reader/Daily Mail reader.