Britains Defend Themselves
Homeowners Can Even Kill Intruders – Guidelines
By James Kilner LONDON (Reuters) – Homeowners in Britain will not be imprisoned for using “reasonable force” to fight off intruders even if they kill, under guidelines published Tuesday by the state prosecution service.
Britain’s opposition Conservative Party has been calling for a change in the wording of the law after a series of high profile attacks so that people are only prosecuted if they use “grossly disproportionate” force
But Prime Minister Tony Blair said a change was unnecessary.
“What the Crown Prosecution Service and the police are saying is we don’t actually need to change the law, what we need is for people to understand they are perfectly entitled to defend themselves against burglars in their own home,”‘ he told GMTV television.
But the new London police chief, Sir Ian Blair, appeared to disagree.
“I’m not sure the wording does go far enough ..,” he told BBC radio before he had seen the new guidelines.
“‘Reasonableness’ is quite a difficult concept at 4 o’clock in the morning in your kitchen ..,”
The Crown Prosecution Service issued the new guidelines to try to clarify the law after increased public concern.
Farmer Tony Martin was jailed for manslaughter after he shot dead a teenage burglar in his remote farm in 1999. Two months ago, intruders killed a 49-year-old financier in his home off London’s fashionable Kings Road and a few weeks earlier rock star Ozzy Osbourne had fought with burglars at his mansion just outside the capital.
“You are not expected to make fine judgments over the level of force you use in the heat of the moment,” the guidelines said, “so long as you only do what you honestly and instinctively believe is necessary in the heat of the moment … This is still the case if you use something to hand as a weapon.”
They add that even if the intruder is killed, the homeowner can claim to have acted within the law so long as reasonable self-defense is proved.
But, the CPS warns, excessive force will be prosecuted.
02/01/05 10:38
(C) Copyright Reuters Ltd