Self defence in the uk?

Question

For all those who do not live in the uk you may not know that basicly we are not allowed to carry anything for self defence reasons weather it be a gun peper spray a swiss army knife
You could walk down the street get attacked and if you use any sort of force to defend yourself you can get arrested taken to court or even sued.

My question is there any way of defending yourself without facing being arrested or going to court. For example if you carried a pen that you use for wrighting and used them if you where attacked point being you use its not a weapon and you did not go out to use the pen to harm anyone and someone attacked you and you used it in self defence.

Would this work out or is there anything else you could do?
It is a sorry state when the people of the uk cant walk down the street and feel safe and when they are attacked the law is not on their side.

Answer 1

Why are you sticking around for the cops to show up.?The bad guys sure as hell dont and you would probably be harder to track down as you are not known to them.(I hope)

The police dont put much effort into solving these disputes unless it can be done on the spot at the time it occured they have bigger fish to fry in 2 days it's ancient history.If you cripple maim or kill someone that's a different story so be careful about using any kind of weapon.
As for being sued that is pretty much the deal in ENGLAND/CANADA/USA.So take off once you have done your thing.

Answer 2

Wow. Thank you for shedding light on life in UK. Always loved visiting your country and hope to go back to visit in the future.
My advice for you would be not to look or act like a victim in the first place. Look around your surroundings and if anything looks suspicious don't go there. Trust your gut feelings in those situations. I also doubt that a pen could hurt the attacker. Ask yourself what would be the reasons an attacker wants to attack you. Is it for your purse or your money? If so then don't carry a big purse or hide your money. If that's not possible then don't put any valuables in your purse and if someone wants it give it to them because it's not worth getting hurt over a purse.
If you really want to be able to walk around on the street without fear, then I would strongly recommend that you study Aikido because it is a strictly self-defense martial art and very good for petite women because it teaches you techniques that will help you defend yourself when attacked but not use excessive force. There are techniques in aikido where you don't even have to have physical contact with the attacker. You will learn to move in a way that will get yourself out of harms way. Knowing and practicing aikido techniques will give you confidence that you can use in any situation. Good luck.

Answer 3

We have the same problem here in this USA compounded by the fact that different states look at it in a different way.
Our basic advice in a self defense situation use only enough force to neutralize the attack. Excessive force is a common denominator in all states as a felony charge.
You must be the one to inform the police. You call them. You send for medical help. You tell your side. Don't brag how you put this jerk down with your special and awesome skill.
You tell them how you were frightened out of your mind and aren't too sure how That evil doer ended up in a heap.
With that said You need to get the job finished.
We have a saying " Better judged by twelve than carried by six."

Answer 4

Well, let's start out with the fact that you are wrong. You are perfectly entitled to defend yourself under British law, if, and only if:
You reasonably believe yourself to be in danger of harm, and
Your response is limited to Reasonable Force.

So if someone yells at you from across the street that they're going to do you over, there would be no reasonable belief that you are in danger. But if they say the same thing right up in your face then there is. If you then defend yourself, put them to the ground and keep kicking, this is not reasonable force. But if you lay them out and leave it there, it is.

What you may not do is "go equipped". This implies to the police that you intend to fight rather than just defend yourself, and that by carrying a weapon you are prepared to use more than reasonable force. You may use items that are to hand if you reasonably believe it to be necessary, eg hitting them with your umbrella, but may not modify things to be used in self defence, eg, you cannot sharpen your umbrella to a point "just in case".

The law is currently undergoing a review to "clarify" these details. Note, the law is not being changed, you have the right to defend yourself already.

Answer 5

jc2k-i am with you all the way on this. it is a sad state of affairs when we cannot defend ourselves without fear of prosecution-but fear not help is at hand. as a lone woman walking down the street if you were confronted by a man then short of actually killing him it would be a vindictive jury that would convict you for defending yourself. now going back to the pen-a most helpfull weapon in self defence (i like a bic myself-good and sturdy). if he grabs you by the lapels stick the pen either in the back of his hand or the little hollow about an inch behind his thumb. alternatively there is also the hollow just below the throat (right above the breastbone) or behind the ear (the mastoid nerve). in a worst case scenario you could shove it up his nose or in his eye (gauranteed result there). if you don't have a pen handy then do what i do-always walk around with your keys in your hand-apply in the same way as the pen. then theres the credit card (rubbed across the face hard) the magazine (womans weekly of course for the ladies) rolled up nice and tight for striking edgeways to the groin/face etc then the stilleto heel (obvious here) the comb for striking the face spare change in the fist and finally the perfume spray (impulse etc) for spraying to the eyes keep this in the hand if being followed. going back to the keys you could also arrange them in such a way in your hand that one protrudes through your fingers for striking. hope this helps. for cody's mum-a trained person could actually KILL an attacker with a pen never mind hurt him.

Answer 6

The laws are both simple and complex, and the number of people prosecuted for defending themselves is very very small. Principle one is that you must be defending human life. You cannot attack someone just to defend property (although you can assume you are in danger if they are on your property). Principle two, is that you are confident they are presenting a THREAT. If they are running away, you have little defence. If you have broken their arm, and they get a knife or gun out, you may continue to defend yourself. Lastly you CAN pre-empt an attack. Tutor #2 is completely wrong - you do not have to wait to be attacked. In fact tutor #1 is only partially correct - you could certainly attack someone if they took a knife out and threatened to use it, but more than that - (check principle two) if they do not remove themselves from your property immediately even WITHOUT a knife being presented, you can still use reasonable force, if you can justifiably perceive there to be a threat presented by this person. (We are assuming for example it is night, and they have broken in to your property).