Reasonable Force Self Defence

Teki187

Teki187

Teki187

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SHOCKED dad Colin Philpott told last night how he was arrested on suspicion of attempted MURDER after tackling thugs attacking his stepson.

Cleaning firm boss Colin, 57, rushed from his house to the aid of Alex Lee, 25, who had been confronted by up to five teenagers vandalising his dad's van.

During Friday's struggle, a 16-year-old named last night as Josh Hasler was stabbed five times in the chest and rushed to hospital.

Colin, who runs the nationwide Escalator Cleaning Services, said: "There were youths vandalising my work van. I was asleep and Alex went out and remonstrated with them.

"He was attacked by several of them and when I appeared I was set upon, as a result of which one of the youths received several stab wounds. I asked my wife to call the police and ambulance and I was then arrested. It was traumatic."

Police held Colin for 18 hours before bailing him until September.

His wife Susanne, 51, said at their £500,000 home in Crowthorne, Berks: "My husband had gone to bed early because he had to be up for work at 5am.

"My son Alex and I heard noises outside the house at about 11pm and saw vandals who had been kicking in the panels of Colin's work van.

"We went outside. The teenagers were drunk and one threatened to kill me and burn the house down.

"I was terrified and when Alex tried to calm him down, the other four got worked up and attacked him.

"Alex ended up on the ground with all five yobs on him, kicking him in the head and stomach. I screamed for Colin and he came out, barefoot and half asleep.

"He ran back in and grabbed the first thing he saw, a letter opener, and confronted the boys. In the blink of an eye, the lads attacked Colin and I saw one stumble into the road.
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Source

I know its the Sun, but still.

First off do you class what he did as reasonable force in regards to self defence?

Second if he only stabbed once, would that change your perception of the incident?

Third off, what do you personally class as reasonable force when it comes to self defence?
 
Burnsy2023 said:
I doubt that. If it went to court I don't think someone could really justify stabbing an unarmed youth. That's not to say that I agree with that mind.
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I don't think a jury would find anyone guilty of attempted murder when they are being attacked by 5 people.
 
Stabbing someone for vandalism is not reasonable force and does not fall under self defence. The only way he could justify stabbing them is if he believed that his life was in genuine danger, e.g. if the other party also had a knife or similar weapon. This is not an attempted murder, but on the face of it with the facts shown I would not be surprised if he was convicted of GBH with intent.
 
Jokester said:
Good on him and if it went to court I suspect he would be found not guilty.
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Yup.

The only thing that might go against him is if he took a knife out with him.

You are allowed to use any "reasonable" level fo force to protect yourself, or another from what you could reasonably consider a threat to the person, and would include if say you picked up a knife from the kitchen drawer if it took place in there etc
That does include potentially killing the other party.

What it doesn't generally cover is picking up a knife and going outside with it, hitting someone once they are down and no longer a threat etc.


The chances are the reason the guy has been arrested is because an allegation has been made against him, in which case the arrest is actually as much for his own legal protection (access to a lawyer, everything properly recorded etc) as anything else.

The downside is that the police have to investigate whenever someone dies/is seriously hurt hence arrests (which also offer the person legal protection etc)
 
Although I dont agree with it I would say due to the fact he ran back into the house to arm himself before they set upon him then he will probably fall foul of the law if it goes to court
 
Burnsy2023 said:
Unfortunately, I think there are many juries who would, and if you look at news articles about this sort of thing you'd find a fair bit.
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Those cases tend to be one on one, where use of a knive could be unreasonable if the other person isn't armed. I can't think of a single case where someone has been convicted of using a weapon in self defense against a gang of attackers (Martin excluded since he shot someone in the back when they were running away).
 
not guilty and if the story goes up like that in court can't see the jury siding with guilty tbh.
 
Werewolf said:
You are allowed to use any "reasonable" level fo force to protect yourself, or another from what you could reasonably consider a threat to the person, and would include if say you picked up a knife from the kitchen drawer if it took place in there etc
That does include potentially killing the other party.
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Instant arming could be a defence, however, your life or another's life would have to be in immanent danger for that to even be considered a defence for manslaughter in your scenario.
 
So according to the article, some thugs start vandalising this guy's van, the guy's son goes to confront them and gets hospitalised, guy comes out with a letter opener, one guy against five and he manages to stab one of his assailants. That's what happened according to the article and we're discussing whether or not the guy should be facing a life sentence or not? :rolleyes: We should be discussing whether the guy should be given a medal or not.

The police who arrested him should be sacked.
 
So he stabbed a teenager 5 times as "Reasonable defence" ?
A knife isn't used for defence, and the man should be charged (even though the 5 guys probably deserved it, it doesn't make it right).
 
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