Those who practice anti-gun rights histrionics here in the US have got nothing on this guy.
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 forceâ€, 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.
But Mr Mendelle said: “You would have, in effect, sanctioned extrajudicial execution or capital punishment for an offence, burglary, that carries a maximum of 14 years — which is the sentence that Parliament decided was appropriate.†He warned that the change could also make householders less safe. “Burglars, knowing that they could be killed, might be more likely to carry weapons and/or use extreme violence. So it would be wholly counterproductive,†he said.
Then maybe, and I know this is a philiosophy of the highest order and that he may not under stand it, but how about maybe if those burglars just don’t go breaking into people’s homes?
The current law is not working, period. And any jackhole who thinks it is has no connection to the reality and needs to have the backside of his underwear elastic pulled up over his head every day for a week until he sees the errors in his ways.
For them, Fantasyland needs to become a more cruel place than reality is for their neighbors.
