[Closed] Our House Got Broken Into Last Night.

No Bombers handy?

You're very lucky there really - especially as you probably wouldn't have been insured seeing as you left the window unlocked.

I got broken into a year or so ago - horrible feeling. They took a couple of ice axes!

Well good that no-one was hurt. They probably grabbed the knife when they heard you moving about.

Posh digs - is this your door?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transom_(architectural)

No Bombers, I'm a Pikes man myself, I'm not sure they would be up to the job.

Hadn't even thought about the potential insurance aspect, still a bit hung up on the thought of a Scrote downstairs with a nine inch knife

🙂 I wish, I'd never heard of the word until my wife used it, I thought it was just the North Eastern name for the window across the top of the window bit.

I'd be more scared that they grabbed a knife rather than a watch or car keys... 🙁 I feel for you - we disturbed burglars ripping our garage door open 3 years or so ago, still get anxious when my head hits the pillow. It used to be every night, now it's only once a week or so.

Nasty, bit of a coincidence as well unless they've been checking doors/windows on your street a lot lately and got lucky.

I don't want to worry you unduly, but said scrote now knows what you have in your house.

Today would be the day to arrange the fitting of a burglar alarm. And have a fleeting interest in baseball - just fleeting enough to buy a bat, put it under your bed and forget that it's there.

I fitted a Yale wireless burglar alarm in around 2 hours. It cost very little gives me huge peace of mind. I'm sure a determined burglar could circumvent it but never the less I feel better for having it.

I also keep an aluminum rounders bat in the hall upstairs for just such an emergency I'm told baseball bats are less useful in close quarters situations as they take more swinging and can leave you off balance. It's important you keep a ball handy otherwise the "first thing to hand" defence is less successful. I'm not a violent man but someone in my house would definately rue the day..

on the bright side - at least you didn't wake up to a scrote bashing your back door in 😯

we got done a few years ago, beers and a curry and the front door wasn't fully secured, fekkin horrible, would have been different if we were out but all asleep until i heard our car being driven off!

we got an alarm now (i work some night shifts locally) which will phone me if it goes off (house & garage)

our area is terrible for this sort of thing, review (local police will help) your security, locks, lighting, visibility, alley gating etc

don't beat yourself up about the window - they're the scum

i now have the biggest MagLite under the bed in case of powercuts

In answer to the OP's question. Last time I had the pleasure of SOCO and dusting powder the officer advised washing up liquid (neat) on a cloth to remove it. Depends on the surface.

I would 2nd the large maglite by the bed option over the baseball bat as you can easily explain a torch over a bat if you were to librally apply it to said scrotes cranium, a bat implies you intended to use it for such times and intent to use a weapon will go against you.

Aye, a maglight in the bedroom, completely innocent, given the number of power cuts we have these days.

Cynical - I live in th sticks and we do get power cuts, 😆

i live in the city - we can get cut

I [s]grew up[/s] was a kid in the 70s, no maglites in those days!

Well good on Mrs Flash for not letting you go downstairs, deserves a present I would say.

I caught some burglars in my then girlfriends house once only me being a bit dim, despite one of the two asking me for money as I walked up the garden in my dirty cycling kit I thought they were friends of her housemate.. Wasnt until I walked in and found them loading cd's into one of my rucksacks and had the stereo out of the cupboard I realised. They left empty handed though and only tried to hit me when I got a bit cocky and told them to f off and not come back, funny thing was he missed and hit the door frame!! As all this was going on the girlfriend was in the back garden pissed off as I wasnt helping her clean the bikes.

intent to use a weapon will go against you.

This is why the law is crazy sometimes. the scum that break in show intent in wanting to nick your stuff, and picking up a 9 inch chefs knife definitely shows intent to **** up anyone that gets in his way. So why should you not be allowed to show intent to beat the living daylights out of someone who is clearly there without permission?

I know its a tricky argument but if the OP had a 9in stab wound he probably wouldn't be posting about it (sorry OP, morbid but true)

+1 for huge Maglite under the bed.

People shouldn't have to think twice about using physical force against intruders in their home*.

In the rest of the Anglosphere you'd be well within your rights to shoot them and I'd totally support the right to do that here.

*Due to fear of prosecution by the useless soft target chasing CPS, obviously people should think twice with regards to personal safety.

Anglosphere

whats that then?

Hate the way police will often say 'well it's your fault for leaving the window unlocked' or some other such rubbish. No Mr Babylon, it's YOUR fault, as your job is to 'help prevent crime'.

Police rarely patrol the area I live in (known crime hotspot), yet seem genuinely surprised when you do report anything. 'Oh but when we've patrolled, we've not seen anything going on'. That's possibly because A) you come round once a week in the middle of the day, and B) because you come round in brightly coloured cars that give your presence away instantly. Numpties.

Wiki:

QUOTE:
Anglosphere is a term with conflicting meanings. For some, the Anglosphere is just those set of nations with English as the most common language. For many others, it is a set of nations which share an "English-like" character and culture, particularly including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Further still, the Anglosphere has strong global socio-economic connotations, as the six countries which comprise the anglosphere have among the world's highest standards of living.
UNQUOTE.

I favour the latter (and more commonly accepted) definition.

Yeah it should be legal to kill them as soon as they'v entered your property.

They'll only get a brief holiday in prison if they get caught etc..

if you can kill 'em, swift n quiet like, n feed 'em to the [url=

whoose gonna report 'em missing?

If I had heard it I and not my wife I probably would have charged downstairs, even if I had a MagLite I would have been between him and the window he came in through and he had the knife...

It looks like a scouring pad and neat washing up liquid is the answer, Cif, Hand Cleaner, GT85, Window cleaner, chain cleaner are not.

Thanks for your comments

Its times like this I'm glad I hold a firearms certificate... with a condition permitting me expanding ammunition as well 😈

cynic-al - Member

Yeah it should be legal to kill them as soon as they'v entered your property.

They'll only get a brief holiday in prison if they get caught etc..

Zulu-Eleven would you like to live with us? Only for a little bit 😉

I don't think anyone here is addvocating seriously harming someone in the house but a bit of a clump with a stout stick in the knee or something should be sufficent to stop them in their tracks and get the police in.

Its times like this I'm glad I hold a firearms certificate... with a condition permitting me expanding ammunition as well

Of course, using a firearm against a burglar would possibly be seen as using a little more than 'reasonable force', but you carry on dreaming you're Rambo, eh? 🙄

Thanks for the spelling lesson, I saw it but like many other I CBA correcting it (many arise from use of new phone).

I was kidding, but then I'm a contrarian leftie pussy, not an internet hard man fantasist Daily Fail reader.

I don't think anyone here is addvocating seriously harming someone in the house but a bit of a clump with a stout stick in the knee or something should be sufficent to stop them in their tracks and get the police in.

or in my case mince around in some cycling shorts and they seem more than happy to leave!!

We got broken into two months ago. 1am on a Friday morning our front door was prised open, keys stolen to both cars, then front door shut again. They got away with my BMW, I heard my wife's Subaru being started so (stupidly) charged downstairs to try to stop them getting away, but luckily by then the car was off the drive and was disappearing down the road. Police called straight away but neither car found that night, the Subaru turned up a few weeks ago, after being being involved in a robbery, my BMW has never been found. Since then the house is now like Fort Knox, new alarm system and upgraded locks on all doors.

In answer to your question we were told to use washing up liquid to get rid of the fingerprint powder, but I had some uPVC cleaning solvent that worked really well.

+1
I hold a firearms certificate

And the keys to the cabinet are with me 24/7 and the 2 cabinets are upstairs. 12 gauge trumps 9" knife anyday 🙂

From the interweb

Self-Defence in the Home
When householders find that there is an intruder in their home, it is likely that almost any amount of force or violence they use to protect themselves and their family will be justified. If the force was used to protect or defend the occupants from harm it will probably have been reasonable.

Self-defence is a common law defence which means that case law determines the tests to be applied when an individual relies on it in court. One thing is clear from looking at the cases that deal with reasonable force - very few of them relate to householders tackling intruders. Generally speaking, the Crown Prosecution Service does not prosecute householders who use violence in these circumstances. Therefore, despite the public perception, these incidents almost never come to court. The CPS and the police frequently conclude that householders have acted lawfully even in situations where weapons and considerable violence have been used against intruders

It was recently said by the Director of Public Prosecutions that, in the last 15 years, there have only been 11 cases where householders have been prosecuted after tackling intruders. As long as a householder acts instinctively, in the honest belief that they need to act in this way to protect themselves and their family, almost any level of violence can be used

What joolsburger said/pasted.

Provided you don't shoot them in the back as they're running away, having lain in wait for them, you're probably ok.

Thing is if you do seriously hurt one of them and they get away they know where you live, can't see it being long until your house/car/you get vandalised in retaliation.

So basically, grabbing a lump of wood/pair of bicycle forks or inadvertently urinating in someone's footwear through sheer terror can be considered 'instinctive'. Going to a locked cabinet, unlocking a firearm, loading it then aiming it at an intruder probably wouldn't.

Personally, I don't think individuals should be permitted to keep any firearms in a private residential property, but that's another issue.

Personally, I don't think individuals should be permitted to keep any firearms in a private residential property, but that's another issue.

certainly not if they are the type of people who fantasize about shooting burglars whilst typing onto a cycling forum

My old house that I was a week away from moving out of was broken into almost a year to the day ago. I'm a heavy sleeper (plus I'd had a few beers before bed) I heard nothing, but I was woken by the missus saying our then flatmate was knocking on the bedroom door (at 3am) saying 'someone' was down stairs. I sillyly jumped out of bed and went down stairs, just as I got 4 steps from the bottem I came face to face with some guy. He stepped back into my sitting room, I followed shouting at him (what the f@?k do you think your doing here)
I won't lie i was very scared. Police had been called by then.
My missus and my flatemate then pointed out the French doors had been smashed as he'd got in. At this point he went from just making excuses for why he was there to becoming very violent. I then had what can only be described as a very violent struggle, I managed to get the upper hand, and effectively knelt on the guys neck till the police arrived (very quickly I should mention)
Only after they had dragged the guy away did my missus (and our embarrassed flatmate) point out that I'd torn a hole in my boxxers during the fight and was effectively teabaging said tealeaf as I knelt on him. - all this, breaking in/fighting/assualting me, the guy got £80 fine and caution 🙁
My new house is doubled glazed and alarmed as I never want to go through that again, it could have turned out very differently.
Maglight by the bed is a good idea!

certainly not if they are the type of people who fantasize about shooting burglars whilst typing onto a cycling forum

Makes you wonder how many other wannabes there are out there who probably really ought not to be allowed near guns...

I'd torn a hole in my boxxers during the fight and was effectively teabaging said tealeaf as I knelt on him.

😆

Aggravated Burglary, the thief enters your home with a weapon, carries a very heavy sentence in comparison to straightforward burglary. You have to assume that if they are in your house in the night when you're likely to be in bed they are prepared to defend themselves and so I think it's best to get cracking with the stout stick pretty much ASAP. Short and weighty is always good, I may invest in a Maglite!!

This sort of crime is very rare though.

The fuzz told me that breaking into a house when people are in is aggravated burglary whatever - weapon or no.

Might start locking my front door in the future!
I was told by a friend of mine in the police, who is into his mixed marshal arts , that a chair or bar stool is good against knives.
Apparently you hold the back of the chair and 'ram' the scroat with the legs, rather forcefully. The chair gives you distance from the knife , and the legs rather limit the angles of attack and / or act like pincers.
I would still rather he came round in his 'special' car , with a MP5K and Sig to sort out any ****tards, but he works in that there London, and I live on the sarf coast.

especially as you probably wouldn't have been insured seeing as you left the window unlocked.

pay a bit extra for "all risks", then just wait for them to finish nicking and get all new stuff 🙂

I was charged with assault after surprising a burglar in my house in Leytonstone. I took to him with a wooden cosh, it was hanging by the door honest. Red mist came down and I probably gave him a bit much but in the circumstances it seemed reasonable to me. Cost me quite a lot of grief before charges were dropped. He got away scot free while I was charged. I'd do it again any day. The minute you enter my house through force it is my choice to beat the sh1t into you , in self defence of course.

No waaaaay, can't believe you got done.....again. Was the 'Type R' incident playing around in your head? bet it was the same scrots.

I would kill, bugger the consequences.

cop told me he keeps a saw under his bed, meant to do some diy, didn't get it finished, kicked saw under bed instead of returning to the shed, hence armed when necessary.......

glad grand family flash are all ok

A saw?!!

[img] [/img]

a well trained pooch with big teeth normally deters most uninvited guests i've heard from various police persons. judges gnerally take owners side if said oik gets bitten in home when uninvited these days as well

Thanks for bringing this up again. Another sleepless week. I'd put a wink on the end but I can't find it.

[i]Of course, using a firearm against a burglar would possibly be seen as using a little more than 'reasonable force', but you carry on dreaming you're Rambo, eh?[/i]

What would your response be then? 'Oh excuse me, would you mind leaving my premises? I'll call the police if you don't! & if they don't arrive shortly I'll use 'reasonable' force to make sure you do, you varmint!
Dream on.

You can use reasonable force to defend yourself. Its clear in law. You can use a "weapon of opportunity" ( I think its called) You know - that nice handy lump of 4x2 you have lying around that you were going to fix the door with

You will only be prosecuted if you

NZCol - Member

I was charged with assault after surprising a burglar in my house in Leytonstone. I took to him with a wooden cosh, it was hanging by the door honest. Red mist came down and I probably gave him a bit much

A friend of mine ( who is a tree surgeon) got harassed by some neds who followed him home. He hit one with an axe as they tried to break his door down ( that he had lying by the door - weapon of opportunity - as a tree surgeon he got away with that) - he got done for assault and a small fine and suspended sentence. The ned got serious hospital time and permanent scarring - and he had not even entered the premises before he go ****ted with the axe

Its a myth you cant fight back - just you must not be premeditated and you must stop once they want to run away. Otherwise smack 'em with whatever comes to had. The chair is a good idea but I have a 3 kg D lock and a lump of 4x2 just lying around

Glad you weren't hurt and nothing much was taken, but i bet you don't feel too chuffed about you personal space being invaded!

I suppose you won't be leaving doors and windows unlocked, but one thing nobody does is hide away / lock away kitchen knives.

Frankly, having some scrote nick your stuff is not that bad compared to being sliced and diced!

Sorry to state the obvious, but your missus stopping you going down stairs was probably a life saver.

I would never consider attacking an intruder unless i was coralled into a corner, or he was imminently going to hurt my family. In which case I would do my utmost to [u]fully[/u] disable him. Highly dangerous strategy!

We were done back in may. All asleep upstairs and never heard a thing which in retrospect is probably a good thing. All sorts went including wifes car to shift the gear. They tried to get into garage as well but failed. Came in through a conservatory window ( not locked ). I came downstairs at 6.30 on a sunday morning to go to work and couldn't understand why all the kitchen cupboards were open ( i was first to bed ) went in lounge and thought where has the wife put the telly then the penny dropped. Couldn't unlock a door to get out as they had taken all the keys and left them on the drive so had to climb out of a window. Somebody being in our house didn't bother me as much as the wife but the hassle in the aftermath was a nightmare. Her car was found two roads away. Both cars needed new locks so had to claim off car insurance so two lots of excess there then the rest off house insurance. Police know who they are as they were on a spree but they still haven't been prosecuted. A bit of advice is to claim for everything as we didn't. We forgot about cases for cameras psp etc and memory cards for stuff (it all adds up) I'm glad i didnt wake up as i would have had a go but life is cheap to these scrotes and you don't know how far they would go. Anyone who goes through this has my sympathy, its a shitty business.

Crazy days.

The high level of crime these days means that at some point in time or another you will very likely face this kind of potentially life threatening situation, but the law says you can't be prepared for it?

The people who come up with these laws don't have to live with the consiquences of them. If the lawyers, politicians and judges had to live amongst these creatures we would see a quick change to the law.

I personally would keep a good sized motorbike chain handy with a padlock on the end. if you get asked about it simply say it was in your ruck sack when you went to the shops on your bike ended up in the bed room, as you forgot to remove it from the ruck sack.

Any pole or bar that is to say a solid piece of wood or other material will shake/vibrate on impact. After a short period of time your hands will feel numb, you won't get that from a chain you can also alter the length of a chain for different circumstances, ranged or close quarters fighting.

I got a bullit and stab proof vest of ebay about 6 years ago £40, I might be mental but I'm not dim witted. If I have to go into a potentially life threatening situation I can at least improve my chances.

As I said crazy days.

Glad your all right, I would get an end of day routine where you check everything is secure, once you get into the habbit of doing it you'll feel much better when you sleep.

Farewell!

Zulu-Eleven - Member

Its times like this I'm glad I hold a firearms certificate... with a condition permitting me expanding ammunition as well

Wow - a internet fantasist.

Of course you do - and you should know better anyway. use a gun in this situation and you are rightly going to jail for a long time. Anyone who braggs about gun ownership clearly is not a suitable person to hold one. anyone fancy shopping Zulu?

You are allowed to use reasonable force commensurate with the risk

You are not allowed to shoot people in cold blood.

After a short period of time your hands will feel numb

I only hit him for a short period of time Officer, honest! 🙄 😆

OK because you'd only expect Zulu to have a spear-throwing certificate wouldn't you TJ you flippin' racist. Amazing. Never thought I'd see the day 😯

🙂

It seems that its either a case of sleeping through or waking and making as much noise as possible (plus ring the plod first).

But I think that I like most people if woken would probably steam in there with whatever I could lay my hands on and quite frankly wouldn't even consider any (possible) charges until well later - and if there was even a sniff of a chance then would ensure a decent lawyer is hired asap.

The high level of crime these days means that at some point in time or another you will very likely face this kind of potentially life threatening situation

I'm sorry but that is absolute cobblers.

What would your response be then? 'Oh excuse me, would you mind leaving my premises? I'll call the police if you don't! & if they don't arrive shortly I'll use 'reasonable' force to make sure you do, you varmint!
Dream on.

So you think shooting people is the correct response to them trying to burgle you, do you? Why don't you go and live in America, where you may hopefully one day be able to live out your fantasies.

'Reasonable Force' means that you are allowed to use sufficient violence to stop your assailant/burglar, and to restrain them pending police attendance. This is what the Law says. Essel, I find it a mite disturbing that someone such as yourself shows signs of wanting to seek violent retribution against criminals. Time to move on from the prison service maybe? Job as a security guard perhaps?

If someone is in your home, you have every right to apprehend them to prevent a crime taking place. The likelihood is that you will need to use some force. If they are armed with a knife, then using a handily placed lump of wood is perfectly reasonable. Of course you should be able to defend your home and your family. No-one's saying you shouldn't. But going to town on them just makes you as bad or even worse than them. You can't take the Law into your own hands.

Burglary , whilst a nasty crime, isn't usually a violent one. Generally, scrotes just want to get in and out as soon as possible, to flog the contraband and buy their next fix or whatever. In my mind, the ideal way of dealing with it would be to try and trap them in the house, hold them at bay and call the police. Avoiding violence is the best way. Or, failing that, letting them get away, but ensuring your own and your family's safety. Imagine if you confront an already desperate and probably pretty scared person, and they stab you? So much for being the big hero.

I'm willing to bet most of the keyboard warriors have no experience of real violence outside of a school playground. 'Oh yeah I'd confront the **** and own him with bombers' etc etc bullshit bullshit waffle. The kind of people that burgle houses are likely to have at least one mate with them, and will be equipped with tools of the trade, i.e. heavy/stabby type implements. As in the OP's case, the scrote had picked up a kitchen knife. If confronted, with the possibility of jail a real threat, do you seriously think most will just take it quietly and accept their capture? Will they bollocks. A cornered rat is the most dangerous. Best then just to let them get out without risking further harm. Of course it's horrible. Of course they're scum. But are they worth losing your life or liberty for?

So, forget all this bullshit internet posturing and try to think a bit more before posting shite. Go paintballing or something, get the aggression out of your system. If you really wanna be able to protect yourself/family, take up martial arts. Much more effective.

Oh, and always make sure all your doors and windows are locked...

I know a few people who've been broken onto and they've been upset for months afterwards. Horrible experience.
Get yourself a big dog. I'm not talking about one of these fighting/status dogs, or what ever they're called. Just something big and noisy. Ours makes a right racket if there's anyone near the house. He sleeps near to my bike, too, which is handy. If you're not into dogs, get a good alarm and plenty of light outside to pick out nocturnal visitors. A sad reflection (excuse the pun), but it seems you have to do it these days.
I had an incident back in the Summer where I thought I heard someone downstairs while we were staying in a holiday home. I actually picked up a baseball bat that was genuinely lying around (holiday games stuff) and would have used it too if I was threatened (but I don't think that I'd have been the first to strike a blow). Spooked me out for a few nights.

There was a case in court not too long ago.

A guys wife and kids were tied up by robbers, I think he managed to break free or something? Anyhow, I think he clocked one and they ran off. This was fine.

But, then he called his brother and the two of them set about him with a cricket bat. The bat broke on his head. scumbag ended up in hospital.

He went to prison for that as he overstepped the line.

Scare or chase away is fine but there are risks there.

Chase, catch then beat the crap out of - that's not fine.

My peronal opinion doesn't come into it, the law does. You do not want be on the inside of a prison.

Buy an electrified cattle prod and claim you're 'thinking about becoming a farmer!'..... lol

Seriously though, glad you're okay.

>He went to prison for that as he overstepped the line.

The bloke you are thinking of was released on appeal as his sentence was changed to suspended, his brother still got 2 years but will be out by now. Their family were tied up and forced to crawl from room to room, he should have got a medal for beating the criminal.

Anyway , the social worker party aren't in power any more, its the hang-em by the balls party in now. Get out your basball bat, and drive a few nails through it for good measure.

phead, as I said, my personal opinion does not come into it. I have no power over a court of law I'm afraid.

I don't disagree with you...

Hmm I disagree, defending yourself is ok, taking the law into your own hands is not, imagine if you made a mistaken identity whilst chasing? Or you attacked somone who had actually good reason for breaking in? I would and have threatened force and would use it to defend my property/family, but as soon as they back off it is the law's job to judge and make appropriate punishment. Thery need to be caught and punished but it's not your role or right to do the punishing.

I don't disagree with you...

I do.

Anyway , the social worker party aren't in power any more, its the hang-em by the balls party in now. Get out your basball bat, and drive a few nails through it for good measure.

Aside from the fact that crime has actually gone down under Labour (don't let the facts distract you from your Daily Mail though)...

So basically you're saying it's ok to break the law? IE, use more than what the Law considers to be 'reasonable force'?

So if it's ok for you to break the Law, then by the same token, it's ok for someone else to break it as well. That's what you're saying, isn't it?

Or are you suggesting that the Law be changed just to suit your personal preference?

still think a 6kg dry powder fire extinguisher would be more than enough to deter any scrote from coming anywhere near you with the added advantage of temporally blinding him if you have ever had to use one to put out a fire you know it gets every where, the powder is none toxic but very dry so sticks to mucus membranes temporally blinding them if they do leg it they leave a trail of powder behind them....

toys, elf,

Yes, you are right. The job of the court is to decide etc etc etc

I know, I follow the laws of the land (mostly) and I would hope that if I ever come into a situation whereby I am relying on the courts to deal out due justice then they will do so.

However, that doesn't always happen. And the scumbags know how to play the system etc etc etc

Would I defend myself and my family if I had to? - yes. Of course.

If a scumbag ran off would I chase him and deal out some Zed justice? - No. I might well think about it but then I wouldn't as my family need me here. I'm no use to them in a prison. There's also the fact that I could end up dead, as has to some in the past...

As for the two brothers mentioned. Man, it's a tough one. They were forced through so much and I can imagine how the rage must have built up in him. On reflection, I'll say I'm not the law, I can't really comment.

The two brothers who went to jail - chased the robber down the street and beat him with bats to the point he is permanently seriously brain damaged - will need care the rest of his life and too damaged to be able to be charged with the original crime.- for which they got short sentences ( suspended)

that was clearly far more than self defense. If it hadn't been a burgler (n thus mitigaing circumstances) it would have been attempted murder and long jail terms not suspended.

I have been broken into myself and whilst I agree in principal to Elfin, practice wouldnt necessarily reflect this. We were in our bedroom watching tv when the alarm went off - I ran downstairs, came across the broken handle on the door and adrenalin took over. I just kept trying to lock the door over and over although the actual barrel was plainly sheared in two. I then ran out into the street in only my boxers to try and find the people responsible. They were long gone (our house is three storeys high and we were at the top) and why I ran out I do not know but I am pretty sure that if I had come across them I would have gone crazy - hitting them with the small table I came across in our lounge. I have read similar threads before and try to impregnate in my mind the possible consequences of taking overly aggressive action but I fear that if adrenalin took over I may go too far. I feel that my intention would be to simply get these people out of my house not run down the street and beat them to a pulp but then I think well why did I go out looking for them last time. Also I'm not sure how reasonable I would be if I went through the experience again. It is easy to take a view on a forum (I speak for myself as well as others) but being put into a position that you have not asked to be in and may well not be used to dealing with can cause you to react very differently to the norm. I agree that two wrongs do not make a right and would be a hypocrite to say otherwise but I know from my own experience that other peoples actions that affect you can make you react very differently. I am no fighter. Never have been but I know that I would have been violent if confronted. My point is I did not knowingly choose a fight, yes my adrenalin may have caused me to react in the manner, but the burglar has put themselves their and caused me to react in a way that I would not have otherwise done. I may rue confronting them but feel the law should allow for the reactions of people in this situation provided that they are normally mild mannered and law abiding.

Slightly OT I remember waking up a couple(?) of years back with the bed shaking violently. Glanced at bingo (fast asleep) so I assumed it was a Poltergiest and went straight back to sleep.

Turned out to be a earthquake.

So if someone broke in we'd be utterly ****ed. I'd note it (or sleep through it) then drop back off again. 😆

Sadly my prediction came true 🙁

years ago my house was once broken into while I was away. Came home from a weekend with the (then) girlfriend to find myself cleaned out (bikes, TV, laptops, etc, etc). First night back and I woke up in the middle of the night to a guy looking round my bedroom door. Not really been aware of what was going on I grunted and he ran off. Turns out he cut himself and left blood/prints everywhere. He got 5 years (released a few months ago) and I got years of sleepless nights 😕

Burglary sucks.