What is a person legally allowed to do to defend oneself against an attack in the UK?

Question

I'm not talking about a verbal attack, I'm talking about a physical attack.

Answer 1

In Criminal Law a person is allowed to use 'reasonable force' when acting in legitimate self-defence against a physical attack, or a threatening situation which puts a person in (reasonable) fear that unlawful force is to be imminently applied to their person. It is an absolute defence, in that, if it is established the person is deemed not to have committed a crime. However, there is no half-way house. If the court opines that a person exerted too much force in a situation (regardless if it is only slightly too much) the defence cannot be relied upon and can only be taken into consideration at sentencing as an extenuating factor.

The beauty of the phrase reasonable force consists in the fact of its very vagueness: namely, what amounts to reasonable force is dependant upon the individual situation in question.

Broadly, the courts will look to see whether the force exerted in response to a threat is proportional to it.

It really boils down to common sense. Were a sixteen-stone wrestler confronted with a small woman attacking him, the courts would deem it to be disproportionate for the wrestler to beat the woman in question to death!

P.S. To the person below: you are incorrect about the test which the court use to determine whether reasonable force has been used.

It is an objective test, and not a subjective test as you have stated. The very word 'reasonable' determines this - it is not what the person in question would have done in such a situation; it is what a 'reasonable person' would have done to defend themselves. Much like the reasonable man on the Clapham omnibus that Law students hear so much about.

Answer 2

You are allowed to use "reasonable force" to defend yourself. Obviously the definition of "reasonable" depends upon the nature of the attack, so can vary from not very much (eg a young child / teenager tries to thump you when you're in the street) up to a lot (large adult male attacks you with a knife in your kitchen when burgling your home at 3am). If you are outside your home, the law will view your first line of defence (and therefore the most reasonable) as running away. In reality of course, that's not always practical, so you are allowed to do more than that. What the law will not approve of is if you kill, seriously injure someone, or if you carry on with your "self-defence" after they have stopped the attack. If you're at home though, you have a lot more backup in law, even up to killing them. You also have more backup outside the house if you are attacked by a group, no matter what age they are.
Mind you if you are being attacked, your primary concern should be to keep yourself and your family safe. Especially if you're at home. Keep the law at the back of your mind! But when questioned by the Police (many of whom will be supportive if you say the "right" things) just make sure you emphasisie how you were in fear of your own safety. I'm not suggesting you lie of course, just that it can make a difference how you portray yourself after the event...
The only unfortunate thing I know is that if you have spent years going to martial arts classes, then use what you have learnt, the law may be less than impressed - just because you are assumed to be able to control things better. Leads back to the question of "reasonable"...

Answer 3

In the UK you can do just about anything but you aren't allowed to use excessive force and any force used must be proportionate. While prosecutions of the defender are rare there have been some where the force used was deemed to be disproportionate. i.e. pursuing a fleeing burglar and seriously assaulting him. While this may seem a natural reaction the law would say that as he was fleeing you were no longer under threat of physical attack.

Answer 4

Proportianate force. If you are being hit, you can hit back, but you cant hit someone with a crowbar, if they were only punching you with their fists.

It is a fuzzy legal area, but it is normally quite easy to see where the force used is not in proportion to the attack.

If there was a doubt over the amount of force you needed to defend yourself, it would be up to a magistrate or judge to decide if you went 'over the top' - despite peoples low opinions of the judiciary, they would usually give the 'benefit of the doubt' to the person who was defending themselves

Answer 5

legally you are allowed to use reasonable force

problem is this is subjective not objective and open to interpretation

if in the course of protecting your self you accidentally cause harm to your attacker no matter how slight you are at risk of being charged with assalt

totally unfair but that does seem to be the reality of the situation

so legally reasonable force
reality make sure your attacker is not harmed in any way

crazy but true

Answer 6

you would be able to use firearms but the UK has a stupid opinion about them and what do you know they took away everybody's guns and violent crime increases significantly. I'll stick with the US where violent crime has steadily gone down for the last 14 yrs because people here are able to defend themselves! GO NRA!!!

Answer 7

I know , try not to get in a attack as much as you can , but if you have to protect yourself then , protect yourself, nothing wrong to defend your self, but never say you did anything to someone

Answer 8

Reasonable force is all that is allowed.

Defend yourself, but don't kill them unless they leave you no choice.

Detain them untill the Police arrive, but keep them at the scene, do not move them anywhere or once again you are in trouble.

Answer 9

If you think your life or that of others is at risk you can use "Reasonable force" ,, but this is a very dark area.
A Chap called Tony Martin shoot 2 buglers in his house ... now he is in prison , and one of the blokes he shot is suing him .!!.

The law is not cut and dry on "Reasonable force",, a white paper is now going through Parliament to make it clearer .

Answer 10

I don't know what's legal in the UK. But I do know that I would fight to defend myself in ANY way that I could. I would assume my life was at stake.