what is reasonable force when getting robbed?

Question

how far would you go to protect your home from crime and what you can do if you catch some one in the ackt

Answer 1

Not sure where you are living, but in the UK it is more to do with a justifiable level of force.

Basically, if you can justify the level of force you used to defend yourself in a court of law then that is deemed reasonable. Certain things will be asked of you such as:

Did you need to defend yourself? Could you have left the area instead of getting involved etc.

Let me give you an example... You are at home watching the TV and someone breaks in to the house. You are an average sized male with no training in defence. The man comes running up to you with a baseball bat in his hand and threatens to smash your head in. You pick up a steak knife that was on your table in front of you and you stab him, he falls to the ground. You call the police and an ambulance. Is that justifiable?

Yes, it probably would be. You were threatened and you were, in your opinion, in iminent danger of attack. You then used a pre-emptive strike to defend yourself. If he had hit you with the bat that could have easily killed you.

Now, if you were in a supermarket and a 75 year old lady started to hit you with her handbag and you battered her with shopping basket that would not be justifiable!

It is best to get advice from your local police regarding such matters as well as maybe attending a safety course teaching you the dos and donts. I have taught self defence, and control and restraint to prison officers as well as private security and it is difficult to know what to do in certain situations... Just remember that you need to justify the actions you take.

Answer 2

In the words of the Crown Prosecution Service themselves: "Anyone can use reasonable force to protect themselves or others, or to carry out an arrest or to prevent crime. You are not expected to make fine judgements over the level of force you use in the heat of the moment. So long as you only do what you honestly and instinctively believe is necessary in the heat of the moment, that would be the strongest evidence of you acting lawfully and in selfdefence. This is still the case if you use something to hand as a weapon". In short, everyone (UK) has the right to defend themselves if they are attacked or even if they simply feel threatened. There's issues on both sides - defence and prosecution - to prove reasonable force was used and was justified. As much as you have to justify your actions as "reasonable" force, the prosecution would have to prove you were "unreasonable". Many cases like this turn out to be one person's word against another and either come to nothing or can go in favour of the "defender" - in the UK the person claiming self-defence is more often given the benefit of the doubt. Thankfully common sense is starting to prevail on that because there's been too many high profile cases where victims end up being accused. The key point in the above statement though is "You are not expected to make fine judgements over the level of force you use in the heat of the moment" - So, in the situation you describe, your girlfriend would stand a good chance of saying that walking home with a friend (I'm guessing another female?) and being approached by 3 males acting aggressively and in a threatening manner made her feel under threat and she reacted instinctively to defend herself (and her friend). The sticking point would be any CCTV footage - let's just say it shows the lads clearly approaching your girlfriend and appearing to be a threat - your girlfriend would have a good case. Now let's say it shows your girlfriend at some distance from the lads (other side of road for instance) and she then approaches the lads - she'd be on dodgy ground and would find it hard to convince the police/court that she was threatened. In that instance she could appear to be the aggressor/attacker. Are you asking because she wants to report the incident (lost her bag and attacked)? Or because you're afraid someone else will or it will be picked up and reported by the CCTV operators? I doubt the lads themselves would report it - they committed an act of theft (robbery if it's seen that they committed the theft by being threatening/using force) at least and could possibly be investigated for assault/public order offences. That would make them fairly stupid as well as spineless! If I were you I wouldn't worry too much. Even though the "justice" system in the UK can be ridiculous at times, I'd be amazed if anything could be pinned on your girlfriend. Don't forget the lads are thieves - hardly good/reliable witnesses are they?

Answer 3

I think you have to guage the situation at the time but realistically if I woke up and found someone in my house I'd hit them as hard as I could with whatever was the nearest heaviest object. Would I risk being arrested for it? Yes I would... I wouldn't give the b*stard the chance to kill me or my family.

I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6

Answer 4

It is what is necessary for the protection of you and your family. If someone has broken into your house, that is a very dangerous situation. You don't know that's its only your things that they are after.
Think out ahead what you would do. Also instruct other family member about it, sort of like a fire drill.

Answer 5

Reasonable force is; you have to use the same kind of weapon they have AND you have to guess what that is! I say if they are in your house or robbing you, anything goes.

Answer 6

If you feel that your life is threatened you can use all the force required to protect yourself and your family.

Answer 7

Inside your house deadly force is allowed, but be prepared to go to jail for this.

Answer 8

If someone broke into my house I would assume they would be after my children. I would stop at nothing to protect my wife and children from harm.

Answer 9

IT DEPENDS ON WHAT STATE YOUR IN, I KNOW IN FLORIDA THEY HAVE THE KING OF YOUR CASTLE ACT, IF SOMEONE FORCIBLY ENTERS MY HOME I CAN SHOOT HIM WITH NO QUESTION, IF SOMEONE USES ENOUGH FORCE THAT COULD CAUSE BODILY INJURY OR DEATH YOU CAN USE DEADLY FORCE. EXAMPLE IF A GUY ATTACKS BE WITH A BAT I CAN USE DEADLY FORCE. BUT IF SOMEONE ATTACKS YOU WITH A GARDEN HOSE IT WONT DO GREAT BODILY HARM OR DEATH SO DEADLY FORCE WOULD GET YOU A JAIL CELL..

Answer 10

Beat them to death, then get a mate to knock me about a bit and plant a weapon on the corpse!