Monday, October 8, 2012

About time for reason to prevail


Homeowners win right to use lethal force on burglars: 'Disproportionate levels of violence' backed


  • New laws could allow use of lethal force against criminals
  • Law changes meant to 'dispel doubts' over right to fight intruders
  • Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to reassure homeowners over their rights

Crackdown: Chris Grayling
Crackdown: Chris Grayling
The long campaign to give householders the right to use maximum force against burglars will end in victory today.
Chris Grayling will announce he is changing the law to allow people to use ‘disproportionate’ levels of violence to protect themselves and their families.
The Justice Secretary said it would ‘dispel doubts once and for all’ over the right to fight back against intruders.
The new rules could, in some cases, allow for lethal force.
The move is designed to remove the threat of a burglary victim being arrested – let alone charged – if they use violence to drive the intruder away or stop them from advancing through their home.
Currently, householders are entitled to use only ‘reasonable’ force.
The change satisfies the demands of MPs and campaigners since Norfolk farmer Tony Martin was jailed for shooting dead a burglar in 1999.
The call for action gathered momentum after the murder of financier John Monckton, who died from stab wounds in his Chelsea home in 2004.
Last month a judge warned that burglars who break into country homes can expect to be shot at by their victims if they are licensed gun holders.
 


    There have been a string of changes to the law in recent years – including one made by Kenneth Clarke last year. 
    But ministers have always stopped short of delivering on the right to use ‘disproportionate force’.
    Campaign: Calls for a change in the law gathered strength after Tony Martin, pictured in outside the Norfolk home where he shot two burlgars, was jailed
    Campaign: Calls for a change in the law gathered strength after Tony Martin, pictured in outside the Norfolk home where he shot two burlgars, was jailed
    The decision by Mr Grayling to try to change the law as soon as possible sets down a marker that he intends to be  a tough Justice Secretary.
    His announcement comes on a day when ministers will make a determined effort to reassure the public they will crack down hard on crime.
    Home Secretary Theresa May will unveil plans to allow crime victims to decide how the thug should be punished.
    They will be offered a menu  of sanctions – such as ordering offenders to pay compensation or fix the damage they have caused.
    Speaking out: Judge Michael Pert QC
    Speaking out: Judge Michael Pert QC
    Any offender who refuses to comply will face stiff action by the police or courts. Mr Grayling, who will also promise to toughen community punishments, will delight the Right with his new law on burglars.
    It will mean someone who is confronted by a burglar and has reason to fear for their safety, or their family’s safety and in the heat of the moment uses force that later seems ‘disproportionate’ will not be guilty of an offence.
    This could include the use of lethal force. Only force which is ‘grossly’ disproportionate will not be permitted. 
    Mr Grayling said: ‘Being confronted by an intruder in your home is terrifying, and the public should be in no doubt that the law is on their side. That is why I am strengthening the current law.
    ‘Householders who act instinctively and honestly in self-defence are crime victims  and should be treated that way.
    ‘We need to dispel doubts in this area once and for all, and I am very pleased to be delivering on the pledge that we made in Opposition.’
    The demands for change began when Mr Martin was imprisoned for killing one burglar and wounding another who entered his Norfolk farm.
    More recent cases suggest prosecutors and judges have been giving greater weight to the legal right of householders to use ‘reasonable force’ to defend themselves.
    Last month Judge Michael Pert QC spoke out after a lawyer demanded leniency for a criminal who, he said, had been hit with a shotgun by Andy Ferrie at his home near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, in ‘a form of summary justice’.
    Rights: Andy and Tracey Ferrie, pictured, were confronted in their home by burglars
    Rights: Andy and Tracey Ferrie, pictured, were confronted in their home by burglars
    No sympathy: Judge Michael Pert QC spoke out after a lawyer for one of the men who broke into the Ferrie's remote farmhouse, pictured, asked for leniency
    No sympathy: Judge Michael Pert QC spoke out after a lawyer for one of the men who broke into the Ferrie's remote farmhouse, pictured, asked for leniency
    The judge replied: ‘If you burgle a house in the country where the householder owns a legally held shotgun, that is the chance you take. You cannot come to court and ask for a lighter sentence because of it.’
    Mr Grayling’s move follows changes made by his predecessor Ken Clarke, which removed a legal requirement for householders to retreat.
    Guidance for police has also been changed to encourage fewer arrests of those defending their home.
    Guilty: Burglars Joshua O'Gorman , left, and Daniel Mansell, who had a string of previous convictions, were both jailed after they were shot after breaking into the home of Andy Ferrie in Welby, near Melton Mowbray
    Guilty: Burglars Joshua O'Gorman , left, and Daniel Mansell, who had a string of previous convictions, were both jailed after they were shot after breaking into the home of Andy Ferrie in Welby, near Melton Mowbray
    Mr Grayling will also introduce measures to make sure every community sentence contains a proper punishment.
    They include a requirement to include a punitive element in every community order, a power to impose location monitoring  and the removal of the £5,000 cap on compensation in the magistrates courts
    Mr Grayling said: ‘We inherited a weak, “soft-option” programme from Labour, which saw offenders working only minimal hours or simply not completing their sentences.
    ‘Yes, we should rehabilitate. But criminals also need to receive a proper punishment.



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