Fears of 'licence to kill' as Tories bid to change self-defence law
A new law to give greater protection to householders is unnecessary and could be a licence to kill, a leading criminal barrister has warned.
Paul Mendelle, QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, says that a change to allow “disproportionate” force would encourage vigilantism.
“The law should always encourage people to be reasonable, not unreasonable; to be proportionate, not disproportionate,” he said, adding that the present law worked perfectly well and was well understood by juries.
If, as the Conservatives propose, the law is changed to allow “disproportionate force”, householders who kill burglars could be acquitted. The issue has been given recent impetus by Munir Hussain, who was originally jailed for beating an intruder, and Myleene Klass, the TV presenter warned after waving a knife at people staring through a window at her home.
On ConHome I accused the Tories of seeking to create a Vigilante Society. It's a Death Wish...
Analysis: Judges need more discretion, not more laws
And what got the Tories knee-jerking to tabloid headlines?
Judge's 'act of mercy' on Munir Hussain fuels row on self-defence
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
Sorry pal, but if I ever suffer the unfortunate incident of finding somebody in my home (with my girls and my boy sleeping upstairs) you do know what would happen. The only difference here would be that the filth would find a body in a ditch somewhere up the road.
ReplyDelete