Self defence when being robbed?

Question

Is it deemed to be self defence if someone is just about to rob you but you attack them first or do you have to wait until they do you over ?

Answer 1

Oooh! Without the full story it would be difficult to answer.

Definition of Robbery: S8 of the Theft Act 1968 - the offence is committed by any person who steals and IMMEDIATELY BEFORE DOING SO, or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, uses force on any person or seeks to put any person in FEAR of being then and there subjected to force.

So, if you can be 100% certain (and prove beyond reasonable doubt) that you BELIEVED force was going to be used against you, you should have a defence.

But you also need to bear in mind the fact that the "offender" will probably have (FREE OF CHARGE) a solicitor to argue THEIR case for them!!!

So, what is WRITTEN and how it is interpreted by the law abiding citizen, CAN take on a whole different meaning!!!

Answer 2

If u defend yourself, it needs 2 b with reasonable force. so if u suspect some1 is about 2 attack u, restraining would b the course of action until help arrives, be sure that u have a reason "he looked at me funny" is not a reason.

If u r punched or kicked by some1 much smaller than yourself do not think u should punch them back if u r able 2 restrain ur attacker.

If attacked by a madman/woman who is much bigger & stronger than urself, the best defence is 2 emobilise them as a full on fight might lead 2 serious injerery 2 urself. Eyes & testicals r ur best form of defence, & then run like hell!!!!!

If attacked by a group of people, if u get the chance attack the largest or the leader. I wouldnt care wot the law said at this point, ur life is at risk, attack the throat & run at the first available moment. NEVER EVER CURL UP IN A BALL, im sure when u wake u in hospital, u would rather have a broken nose than a broken back.

But above all ur 1st course of action should b 2 run.

Answer 3

If I am being robbed, I would like to be able to send the robber to the next world in a hurry, I am talking about blowing them a way, and blowing the smoke off the end of the gun like John Wayne.
This is not an idle threat, because I have a concealed weapons permit.
Also I have a military background, so I don't need to make idle threats.
no threats, just promises. There is a chance I may have to explain in court, but I would rather it be them than me.
I actually had to be a witness for a man with a gun once.
I said these exact words to the judge, " your honor, This person was hit over the head in an attempted robbery, and you probably would have got your gun too".
I do not believe you are supposed to tell the judge what he would do, but I got away with it.
So did the guy I was witnessing for.

Answer 4

Provided you don't have a history of attacking people, provided you can prove that you had reasonable grounds to do what you did you should be fine.

My once piece of advice though (speaking from some joint experience, I'm a martial artist and a lot of people from my club have been involved in attempted robbings) is that you know when to stop. It's generally ok to hit the person 'attacking' you, but if it goes to court they will try and demonstrate that you had a chance to leave but didn't take it. So basically once they are down run for it, don't try and 'make sure' they stay down. We had a person who was mugged, he got the man down but as he was lying on the floor the mugger pulled out a knife. The mugee kicked him in the head and ran. The judge said that he had no reason to kick the mugger again and could have run at that point, so he got some jail time.

Of course that's just from a legal point of view, if you feel your life is in danger (ie you think they have a knife or something) then act how you want. I personally wouldn't hesitate to give someone another kick to keep them down if I thought my life depended on it. My instructor says "Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 4" (better to stand before a jury than be carried by some coffin bearers, better to be alive in court than dead). The man above was happy to do a few weeks in jail as he didn't regret playing it safe and stopping getting knifed.

Whew! Sorry, I'm just passionate about the issue!

Answer 5

If you percieve that you are about to be attacked you may use "necessary force" to protect yourself. You may defend yourself until the treat is over but your actions must be justifiably equal, you cannot beat them to within in an inch of their lives for example "a slap across the face". The actions you take must only be up to the point of resonable use. What is necessary is deemed to be what the average person is likely to do.

Self defence is the justifiable allowance of an illegal action to prevent an illegal action being done to your person, third persons or your property.

Answer 6

Self defence means exactly that. You are defending yourself from someone else's actions. That means they have to make the first attack. It doesn't mean you have to let it hit you. If they take a swing and you duck it, and then beat the p*ss out of them, it is still self defence. Even better if there are witnesses.

But you also need to stop hitting them as soon as they stop attacking you. And don't ever use an object to beat them with.

Answer 7

If they are acting in such a manner as to make you fear for your life or your safety you are, under the law, allowed to act. The problem is you would have to be able to convince a court of your justification and convince them that you acted with minimum force.
A possible example might be where you are walking down a long, dark road and someone is following you. You vary your pace and he varies his, you cross and recross the road he does the same, you turn a corner, he does the same and you hit him hard. The chances are if he's been behaving in this manner it was his intention to rob you and he probably has previous convictions for similar crimes.

Answer 8

Although they say Attack is the best form of Defence, unless you could provide irrefutable evidence it was necessary to strike first to prevent injury to yourself, you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

Answer 9

In the USA you will probably be going to court.

Self defense - regardless of condition or situation - must be proven in a court of law. Every time!

Even the police - in any country - can not prevent crime! They can only help you AFTER you become a victim.

G. Gordon Liddy recommended putting out two quick shots -center of mass - and then taking a more presice aim to finish the criminal off. No one will be able to testify against you.

Answer 10

I think that if they are in the act of attacking you, then it is legal to defend yourself, using such force as you perceive necessary at the time.

It would definitely be illegal to continue your counterattack, once the assailant had stopped resisting/attacking.

But if no-one is watching, and they don't know who you are, and are never likely to see you ever again, then give them a good kicking just to make sure.