The terrifying ordeal suffered by Kerry Katona and her family at the hands of burglars has brought into sharp focus the fear many people have about falling victim to violent robbers.

A new survey reveals almost a third of householders keep some kind of weapon by their beds to protect themselves.

Do you think it's time for a change in the law to ensure people who use force to repel burglars aren't then prosecuted themselves?

Comments

[James London Aug 1, 2007 7:09:11 AM]

I think the law here has gone beyond a joke, people commit these crimes and are protected, not just in this type of crime but in various different crimes.
About a year ago i saw a girl being robbed in Covent Garden, there must have been 200 people watching doing nothing, so i ran over and got the two guys off the girl and then helped the police catch one guy as he ran. Now obviously i did not use polite banter to get him away from this female and then when i went to the station i found myself on the end of an assult charge, which totaly shocked me and the police where very suppotive of what I had done but this guys solicitor said it was assult and that i used more than reasonable force. In the end an agreement was made that the female who had been robbed would have to drop her charges against the robbers, if the robber was going to drop his against me. THIS IS NUTS!!!!!!!
It has totally put me off helping someone....... What is reasonable force????????

[Vicky Jul 27, 2007 5:06:04 AM]

I was burgaled and now I wont leave my house unless I know someone is hom all the time, We had never left the house empty before and had a dog at the time, but friends invited us over for a curry and we were gone about 2 hours, got back and they had been in and out whilst we were gone, the ironic thing is I did not want to go out in the first place, they had been through our stuff, and taken some cash, smashed our television, and taken what few bits of cheap jewellery I had hoping they would make a few quid from it, but they would have come unstuck there. But I was a jibbering wreck, I dont care what they took they could have taken everything for what its worth, I just could not get the thought a stranger had been in my house and touch anything, and to not be able to clean the house until the next day AFTERNOON when the finger prints people had been drove me mental.

I just wanted to scrub my house from top to bottom, but I would not go out for months, I was so nervous, any sound I heard I thought it was someone trying again to get in, and the police didnt help by telling me that 9 times out of 10 they burgular always comes a second time, what did he think he was going to achieve by telling me a nervous wreck that kind of thing.

When the police came It was me who had toask if we could look around outside the house to see if we could see anything maybe that they had dropped or left behind, otherwise they just wanted our names and a list of items missing,

I was so angry weeks after and arguments were caused because I would not and could not go out, I was soafraid it would happen again.

Then to top the cake off my dog at the time was 8 months old, they knocked him about and locked him in a bedroom, what was he going to do to them, and 8 month old mongrol, he was terrified for a long time after, the guilt was awful.

I really do understand why people take the law into there own hands, the pain and hatered toward the people who violate our own space, it is so aganising, you do feel useless, this is my home, my space, they commit a crime the second they attempt to enter your peoperty, the are well aware otherwise why try to get in a locked windown or bodge a door? why not knock the door? why take items that dont belong to them? because they know its wrong and get a buzz from it,

So why cant we deal with them ourselves and get a buzz ourselves from it?

I used to say two wrong dont make a right? but the way I have been treated the past few moths by local police for reporting a crime that happened to my parents through gangs in their area, makes me think well is it worth calling them?

They need to allow us to trust them again, show us they are for the people and willing to be there for the people, the good public,that have had to struggle to have what they have, and prove that yes we understand you have just been through hell, we will help you get through this, and when they say we will do everything we can to find the person or persons who committed the crimes that they mean it and prove it by following through with their words.

[chris scotland Jul 21, 2007 6:00:46 PM]

well i teach tdk when i lived in england and i was told from the lawer is this
if you think that you are going to get heart you can use what you nead to stop and controll the man ,woman. as long as you not kill them.

[David Lewis West Wales Jul 19, 2007 7:56:22 PM]

I'm sorry but we can't rely on the police any more they are far too busy prosecuting us for being anti gay or anti labour or anti immigartion. They just don't have the time to long after the long suffering British citizen.

[John - Billericay Jul 19, 2007 9:52:04 AM]

Having read all the comments it seems we're all of one mind...so can we now find a politician who will start to make a change in the law....?
As for the police, those wasted billions have gone on paperwork and pensions...not on protecting us their employers...ie all us taxpayers.

[Eric Pozo Gibraltar Jul 19, 2007 8:32:22 AM]

I feel that the amount of crimes is not due to lack of police officers, it is due to the leniency in the law. Criminals are protected and victims prcecuted when it should be the other way round.
In my opinion neither the police nor the courts are given enougth power to prcecute and punish severely.

[Caroline Taylor, Wiltshire Jul 19, 2007 8:07:55 AM]

Why is the law biased towards the wrong doers? What protection as homeowners are we supposed to use? The police can state we should phone the police, but can they ensure that once we phone they will arrive quick enough to have any impact and catch the criminals? The answer in most cases is NO so what is going on here......
Why can the government not see that our judicial system is set up to protect those that create the problems, when is it going to be our turn?

[acwoof Jul 18, 2007 4:25:58 PM]

i have a baseball bat and i will use it on any intruder in my home,i have 4 children and a wife and home to protect.

[Ian High Wycombe Jul 18, 2007 4:16:34 PM]

If someone breaks in to or walks in to someones home he knows he is breaking the law. The moment they do that, they have no rights. I do not agree that it is ok to shoot them. However, the sheer fact that they entered someone elses property should be sufficient to arrest them. If the law was clear enough that the entry in itself is an offense punishable by jail term then all of the question about their rights goes away the minute they do it.
So charge them with illegal entry, then charge them with the theft, or attack on residents. But make it clear, you enter illegaly you are already going to jail.

[Nick, Ayr Jul 18, 2007 3:57:42 PM]

I truley believe that if people in this country had the right to defend themselves in there own homes by what ever means necessary this would make intruders think twice.

And like our American cousins we should have the right to have weapons in our own homes in order to protect ourselves.

[Paul, London Jul 18, 2007 1:30:09 PM]

Look on the bright side, at least Kerry Katona will now be able to flog her story to TV Quick, Hello and all the other glossys to keep her dying career going a bit longer.....

[elbie -Cheshire Jul 18, 2007 10:52:03 AM]

As a Canadian, I can't agree with your idea that you have less crime in the USA because you can carry guns.

I can agree with your idea that these crimes shouldn't see the offender protected.

[Nathan, Colorado Springs, CO, USA Jul 18, 2007 6:08:24 AM]

THe U.S. had this conversation with itself over 20 years ago, and came to the conclusion that laws designed to protect and coddle violent offenders only serves to create MORE violent offenders. It is no coincidence that states with "Right-to-Carry", concealed carry and "Make my day" right to self-defence laws consistantly have the lowest violent crime rates, where as more "Liberal" states invariably have vastly higher rates of violent crime.

In the absence of official trust and faith in the citizen/subject, we uncivilized Americans have another saying - "It's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6".

Any victims of violent crime care to argue against that point?

[Don in Florida Jul 18, 2007 1:51:36 AM]

The right to protect ones self from evil predators should be a natural right; as such it should be impossible to be legislated away by well intended but misguided law makers. The citenry should at once recognize this error and begin to work on getting their rights restored. We would all love to live in peace and harmony, but as this time not all are willing to behave, and in fact lay in wait for prey now even easier to attack with hardly any consequence. Sooner or later action must be taken to stand your ground against the bullies. It isn't pretty, dignified or preferred, but absolutely necessary. For all the good that the Police do to protect and serve, they cannot be with you every minute. You are you're only protector. Act like it.

[Sarah from North Yorkshire Jul 17, 2007 8:16:01 PM]

My family were victim to vicious theives 4 years ago this month.
They dragged my sister out of her bed, snapped her mobile phone in half and forced her semi naked into another room.

They were held an gun point in their own home, tied up and left for dead in the cellar while they got away with £80,000.

My father didn't get the chance to fight back and ponders if he would have done as his wife and daughter could have been hurt...but the fact still remains that they came into our family home with the intention to do anything they could to 'earn' as much as they could.
why shouldn't we be able to protect ourselves in our own homes, this is where we should be at our safest!

People that carry out these crimes do not deserve the most basic of human rights never mind justice!

The country is going down the pan in so many ways but this is a law that needs to change!

[Jim Payne Dundee Jul 17, 2007 6:27:21 PM]

The low life parasites that find easy targets to burgle should come to my home.If they think there that cute ripping off easy pray then come here and i'll rip your heads off.justice for the law abidding.

[John Gabris Dover Jul 17, 2007 5:18:31 PM]

In short yes we need to defend our hard earned property. The police should not prosecute self defense and what’s more no lawyer should defend a burglar or help him get compensation. It is an occupational hazard freely taken on by intruders. The lawyer defending should be prosecuted for encouraging burglary and theft.

[Robert, London Jul 17, 2007 4:11:00 PM]

Not only should you have the right to protect yourself in your home, but also anywhere you have a legal right to be - in your car, in a park, walking down the street...it's called the "Castle Doctrine". As long as criminals know you are hobbled by the law (not only prevented from carrying a weapon or device for self-defence but, that you are brow-beaten into submission by the liberal government and press so that anyone attempting to protect themself, their family or property will simply and summarily led to slaughter. Remember that the wolf who knows there may be a sheepdog in the flock is very careful to avoid that encounter.

[Carl Sherwood, Nottingham Jul 17, 2007 4:02:09 PM]

I have to protect my self againts burglars especially when they are inside my house So everyone should have a weapon with them for protection. BURGLARS BEWARE!!!

[DENNIS HERTS Jul 17, 2007 1:59:46 PM]

The Police treat burglary as low priority brushing you off with an incident number for insurance,no money can make up for all your personal sentimental possessions you have accumalated over the years,or the feeling that you are no longer safe in your own home,these scum need to be on the end of a very big stick, or a very big dog.

[Steve in Wisconsin Jul 17, 2007 1:11:17 PM]

Self Defense, both of person and property, should be assured.

Of course here in the USA we have no hesitation to lawfully defend ourselves and our property.

There is nothing like the clanking of a Pump Shotgun chambering a round to make a burglar retreat.

[SUZY SMITH BRIGHTON Jul 17, 2007 12:50:37 PM]

This issue alone has huge repercussions on the public's cooperation with the police. People want justice, not law - which protects violent people's rights. We import people from violent areas and expect them to become passive overnight. Doesn't happen, all people coming here need debriefing concerning violent behaviour. Take all rights away from violent criminals as soon as they commit a violent act. Remember the failed bombers squeeling for their rights after trying to kill and main others?

[Paula. Dorset Jul 17, 2007 12:43:08 PM]

I am too old at 69 to take much notice of the barmy laws applied by this weak government, I have got a very large German Shepherd and would not hesitate for a moment about letting him have his way on any intruder/
assailant who chooses to attack me,my family or my home.They do not have permission to be on my property so they must suffer the consequences.

[elbie -Cheshire Jul 17, 2007 11:21:40 AM]

If someone breaks into my house, I'm sure they aren't there for tea and biscuits. I believe in doing whatever necessary to protect myself and my family.
The law should change to protect the victim.
Warning: Occupational hazard to burglars = injury or death!

[Khalid Jul 17, 2007 10:22:21 AM]

In short Yes!
I dont know what "ABC" such legislature utilises, but it sure aint "The Look of Love"!