How Can The British Defend Their Homes From Home Invaders? ...They Can't

A British celebrity, Myleene Klass, who is a popular broadcaster and model, brandished an "illegal" kitchen knife, and ran off a band of young intruders who entered her property last week . Police have told her that they believed she  acted illegally in showing the knife to defend the home.

She was in the kitchen when she saw the intruders in her garden acting suspiciously. They came toward the window she was looking out of, but turned away. They then tried to break into a shed on the property when she screamed and waved the knife to scare the intruders away.

She was informed by the authorities that the kitchen knife was an "offensive weapon", and that she was not allowed to brandish the knife to scare the intruders off, even if endangered on her property.

This is how the self defense system has worked in Britain for years. There is a movement in Britain now to finally allow people to protect themselves and have immunity in using force to fight off intruders.

This latest travesty comes after another Brit, Munir Hussain, was sentenced to prison for 30 months last year after defending himself and his family from a knife wielding home invader.  He, his brother, and Hussain’s family had been tied up by a home invader. The brothers worked their way loose and confronted the burglar. The brothers used a metal bar and cricket bat in fighting back.  They hit the burglar’s head so hard with the bat that it broke in half.

In a complete miscarriage of justice, after the home invader received a well deserved concussion, the Court said that the burglar wasn’t competent to plead to false imprisonment, and was given probation.  This career criminal had more than 50 previous convictions. In addition to Hussain’s 30 months, his brother was sentenced to 39 months. Both brothers were found guilty of causing “grievous bodily harm” to the home invader.

In sentencing the brothers, the Judge said that he believed that civilized society would collapse if people were allowed to take the law into their own hands and punish the intruder, instead of letting “justice” take its course, which in this case was probation for the intruder and prison for his victims. But was this punishment of the home invader, or did the brothers just take steps to protect the home's occupants and stop a vicious crime?  The criminal justice system failed these two men and their families miserably.

You may remember the case of British farmer, Tony Martin, who shot and killed a home invader in self defense several years ago, and was convicted of murder. That event set off a debate on self defense in Britain that hasn’t been resolved yet.  We can consider ourselves fortunate indeed to have had forefathers with wisdom enough to affirm out pre-existing right to self defense, and to keep and bear arms.