Breaking and Entering?

Question

If a thief was to forcefully enter my home at night, become caught in the act and then act in a threatening manner towards myself/family would it be right for me to use force to defend my home? Even if that meant his death?

Answer 1

The law says you can use reasonable force to protect yourself your family and your belongings!

This means if you knock the man out and he is no longer a threat to anybody then that would be reasonable use of force! HOWEVER if you then proceeded to kick the living day lights out of him while he was lying on the floor unconscious then that is unreasonable!

In my opinion if someone was in my house at night threatening me and my family I'd say b0locks to reasonable force and i would use what ever i had to make sure he never threatened anyone again!

Answer 2

It depends on circumstances, for example you are a 5 foot girl and the burglar is a 6 foot 25 year old that does weight and you hit him on the head with the edge of a shovel and he died yes. However, if you are 6 ft 6 200lbs can lift a car and the burglar was 5 foot and you picked him up and threw him out the window of the third floor, then no.
Keep a polished copper tube wrapped up in a rag, and a shotgun, throw the tube at the villain and after he has caught it blast him.
In the dim light you saw the glint of metal and thought he had a gun. You were not about to enter into a debate with him and shot him.
Remember though in the UK the criminal has most rights to whats yours. You can only say put that down please...
If you were to kill him the UK police would eventually run out of villains and then there would be even more chasing road tax!

Answer 3

As long as they are facing you and not departing from the home and not heading towards a family member, the answer would be yes in most states. Also, if you felt you or a family member were in danger of being seriously hurt and had a reason to believe he was armed or had a knife or something. The law is different in most states, but most have whats called the castle laws, which is a man's home is his castle and if he needs to defend it or it occupants, he is usually allowed to use force and up to deadly force in some states. But shooting him in the back on the front porch leaving the domocile is not likely to win you a good defence on a murder on manslaughter charge. Aslo if he was a lover of your daughter/wife or kid, you might have a problem. Best best, install a burglar alarm and invest in a phone on the night stand to call 911.

Answer 4

In the Uk you can use reasonable force to protect yourself if attacked. The question will always be around what is reasonable force. If he threatens you verbally but is too far away to actually harm you, then you aren't in any imediate danger. If he jumped on you with a knife and and was stabbed himself in the struggle you may end up in court if the crown prosecution service think it's in the public interest. That's more likely if you have a record of violence yourself. I can't imagine a jury finding you guilty.

Answer 5

Under the law in England and Wales you are allowed to use reasonable force to defend yourself and protect your home and your family. If the burglar attacks you then you would be forced to defend yourself. If this resulted in his death you would be arrested for murder but may have a valid defence so long as your actions are considered reasonable. If you shoot an unarmed burglar this is not self defence but if he has a weapon and threatens you it is self defence. If you shoot an unarmed burglar who is attacking your wife this is provocation. If an unarmed burglar attacks you and you fight back and the fight results in his death you could plead self defence. Basically do not harm someone who has broken into your house unless they threaten you. It sucks but it's the law. Tony Martin shot a burglar in the back in the dark. He was terrified but this was not considered reasonable as the burglar was running away and therefore not threatening him.

Answer 6

As the police will on average take several days to attend a burglary then I think that defence is OK, however the Strasbourg court has given more rights to criminals, against natural justice, and thus they have the right to be safe in your home. You could be sued if they cut themselves entering or break their leg falling down the stairs.

But never mind Teflon Tony has promised more police so the situation may improve.

Answer 7

well i would certainly agree that we must defend our family,home and ourselves no matter what even if that means killing,but in the uk people are often charged with murder look at tony martin for instance ,he had been robbed so many times and he was just a quite man who wanted to be left alone .
there was also a BLIND man who's house was broken into late at at night and he fought the thief and ended up beating the thief to death but he ended up in jail,i think he got life in prison the thief was armed and violent and the blind man had been a victim of violence before ,it's completely unfair i know.
also from a more personal expierence three men once broke into my house and beat up my dad ,he fought them they then sprayed him in the eyes with pepper spray dispite my dad not being able to see he hit the thieves with an metal object ,and the thief was knocked out when he came too he pressed assault charges on my dad .and of course true to british justice my dad went to jail.

Answer 8

If he was threatening you and your family, all of the laws that I know of say yes. If he is just breaking and entering without the threatening part it depends on the state you live in.

Answer 9

Reasonable force to defend is ok in the UK,
but if you kill them and they where unarmed then you would get done for murder, if they are armed and you acted in self defence, then that is a different case.

Answer 10

The stupid law on this is that you can use reasonable force if youm catch the burglar upstairs. If you catch him downstairs, you can't touch him. What you have to do if he is downstairs is to drag him upstairs and beat the crap out of him then.