A
Ardross
Guest
The sooner this idiot retires the better . Hard cases make bad law. The appalling murders of Mr Monckton and Mr Symons do not make murdering burglars right .
At this rate people who murder workers from the water board can say I thought he was a burglar so i shot him
boss backs attacking burglars
The current law allows 'reasonable' force to be used
People should be entitled to use any force necessary to defend themselves against burglars, England's most senior police officer has said.
Met commissioner Sir John Stevens said homeowners should be presumed to have acted legally, even if a burglar dies, unless there is contrary evidence.
Laws which often seemed to favour criminals should be clarified, he said.
People should be prosecuted only when there was evidence of gratuitous violence, he told the Daily Telegraph.
People should be allowed to use what force is necessary ... without any risk of prosecution
Sir John Stevens
Shot burglar case debate
Would you take on a burglar?
Under the current law, homeowners are entitled to use "reasonable force" to defend themselves and their homes.
It is up to judges and juries to decide what level of force is "reasonable" in any given situation.
Sir John said the public was confused about what that meant and the law needed to be clarified.
The law was currently sending the wrong message by encouraging burglars to break into houses in the belief that no householder could harm them, he said.
'Public unclear'
He told the paper: "My own view is that people should be allowed to use what force is necessary and they should be allowed to do so without any risk of prosecution.
"There is a definite feeling around when I go out on the beat with officers and talk to members of the public that we need clarity in the law.
Sir John leaves the post in January after five years at the top
"The test at the moment is that you use reasonable force in the circumstances. You do not use excessiveness."
He said that was too imprecise for people to consider in extreme circumstances, when they needed to be absolutely clear about what their legal rights were.
Sir John was speaking five days after City financier John Monckton was stabbed to death by an intruder during an attempted robbery at his home in Chelsea, west London.
In October, school teacher Robert Symons was killed in his home in nearby Chiswick.
Tony Martin
"Now is the time, specifically with these two cases we have had recently - in Chiswick and Chelsea - for the law to be clarified," he said.
"It's all very well for the lawyers to say the law is clear, but I'm afraid people on the street don't feel that, and on occasions neither do the police.
"You don't want to have gratuitous or excessive violence ... but you have to be given the power to use what is necessary."
He said the case of Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer jailed for shooting dead a burglar in 1999, had distorted the self-defence issue.
"[He] did shoot the burglar as he was running away. He did use a gun that was illegal.
"The Martin case skewed everything and it was the wrong case to concentrate on."
Sir John retires from Scotland Yard in January after five years leading the Met.
At this rate people who murder workers from the water board can say I thought he was a burglar so i shot him
boss backs attacking burglars
The current law allows 'reasonable' force to be used
People should be entitled to use any force necessary to defend themselves against burglars, England's most senior police officer has said.
Met commissioner Sir John Stevens said homeowners should be presumed to have acted legally, even if a burglar dies, unless there is contrary evidence.
Laws which often seemed to favour criminals should be clarified, he said.
People should be prosecuted only when there was evidence of gratuitous violence, he told the Daily Telegraph.
People should be allowed to use what force is necessary ... without any risk of prosecution
Sir John Stevens
Shot burglar case debate
Would you take on a burglar?
Under the current law, homeowners are entitled to use "reasonable force" to defend themselves and their homes.
It is up to judges and juries to decide what level of force is "reasonable" in any given situation.
Sir John said the public was confused about what that meant and the law needed to be clarified.
The law was currently sending the wrong message by encouraging burglars to break into houses in the belief that no householder could harm them, he said.
'Public unclear'
He told the paper: "My own view is that people should be allowed to use what force is necessary and they should be allowed to do so without any risk of prosecution.
"There is a definite feeling around when I go out on the beat with officers and talk to members of the public that we need clarity in the law.
Sir John leaves the post in January after five years at the top
"The test at the moment is that you use reasonable force in the circumstances. You do not use excessiveness."
He said that was too imprecise for people to consider in extreme circumstances, when they needed to be absolutely clear about what their legal rights were.
Sir John was speaking five days after City financier John Monckton was stabbed to death by an intruder during an attempted robbery at his home in Chelsea, west London.
In October, school teacher Robert Symons was killed in his home in nearby Chiswick.
Tony Martin
"Now is the time, specifically with these two cases we have had recently - in Chiswick and Chelsea - for the law to be clarified," he said.
"It's all very well for the lawyers to say the law is clear, but I'm afraid people on the street don't feel that, and on occasions neither do the police.
"You don't want to have gratuitous or excessive violence ... but you have to be given the power to use what is necessary."
He said the case of Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer jailed for shooting dead a burglar in 1999, had distorted the self-defence issue.
"[He] did shoot the burglar as he was running away. He did use a gun that was illegal.
"The Martin case skewed everything and it was the wrong case to concentrate on."
Sir John retires from Scotland Yard in January after five years leading the Met.
An Englishman’s and a Welshman’s!!! Home is his castle he should have the right to defend it and the said contents at all times if someone breaks in, he uses what ever force it takes to stop him and the burglary....
