Violence Is in the Eye of the Householder
After allegedly breaking into a home in Gillingham, Kent, U.K, and being confronted by the owners, Denby Collins, 39, was left in a coma. His family sued, saying the so-called “householder defense” law was incompatible with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. But two High Court judges dismissed the case: “A householder will only be able to avail himself of the defence if the degree of force he used was reasonable in the circumstances as he believed them to be,” they ruled. A “disproportionate” level of force is allowed against intruders in a home, and is only illegal if it’s “grossly disproportionate” force and a “calculated action of revenge.” (MS/London Telegraph) ...Householders now want to know: how disproportionate can you be before it’s gross?Original Publication Date: 31 January 2016
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 22.
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 22.
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