Ah , because years ago I was in a similar situation and the house house was part of a youth charity trust .
It was an unbearable situation , 24 drugs and music.
The Police and the council noise abatement did all they could .
In the end I contacted the charity direct and told them that I was going to send all the documentation I had from the Police and council as to how their charity was making decent peoples lives a misery , and that my soul purpose would be to have their funding removed . (Lottery and other public charities)
It did get results , They were moved out and a few months later the house changed hands.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DPG and Specialist
Unfortunately mate it's run by a private Scumlord, no sooner have we got rid of 1 lot than he moves another in.

The guy is just out to line his pockets, end of. Doesn't care what happens to the house, it's the pits.

The poor bugger that cleaned the place out when the last lot were evicted, was throwing up from the stench of rotten Dog, Drugs, People & Rubbish.
He reckons it was the worst he'd been in, over 100 bags of rotting rubbish & dog faeces from inside alone.
 
Having been faced with this myself in the passed I feel for you and your family. Perhaps for now - keep head down - play nice - speed dial police - and get a nice torch to see anyone who comes in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Specialist
Apparently: If an Intruder is on or over the third step of your stairs while your upstairs and your in fear for your safety, then your legally entitled to use Reasonable force to protect yourself (My definition of Reasonable & the laws differs) Especially being a young woman?
Although I like your 30mm spanner idea, the law wouldn't look too kindly on it & you'd have a hard proving you had a legitimate reason for it being on your bedside table.
A better choice would be a 3 D cell maglite, legitimate reason for having it there & does the job well.

It does not matter what your preferred weapon of choice is, the subjective tests is, was the force used reasonable in the circumstances.

If billy burglar got into Sparkychicks house and entered her bedroom with nefarious intentions, and she used her combination spanner to defend herself & her friend, then that would probably be considered reasonable, in the circumstances.

If however, Sparkychick and her friend had chased the perpetrator, out of the house and caught him trying to leap the garden fence, then bashed him repeatedly around the head with the spanner, whilst one held him down, then I suspect that would not be considered reasonable force.
 
Yeah, but the last scenario would be very satisfying :D
 
Sorry to disagree with you Midwest (Thank SC), but it was our local Police that warned me about keeping anything other than a large torch at the side of the bed.
Stating that in court you'd find it very hard to prove that it was there for any other purpose than hitting an intruder, whereas many people keep a torch at the side of the bed.

Very true, your not allowed to chase them outside and whack them.

Where we used to live, a young couple were in bed in the middle of the night with their baby in a cot at the side of them.
Burglar broke in & was ransacking the place, young guy goes downstairs in his skimpies with a crowbar he'd kept at the side of the bed & confronts the intruder.
Intruder turned on him so got whacked with the crowbar, police were called & when they arrived promptly arrested the young householder for assault on the intruder.
When it came to court, Judge said there was no legitimate reason for having the crowbar up in the bedroom, result: young guy doing 6 months & having to pay intruder compensation for his injuries. Intruder received a caution.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Informative
Reactions: Des 56
It's that kind of cautionary tale that makes my blood boil. It's just plain wrong that the guy defending his family gets the full force of the law whilst the scum bag gets off.
 
It's that kind of cautionary tale that makes my blood boil. It's just plain wrong that the guy defending his family gets the full force of the law whilst the scum bag gets off.

Totally agree with you, it's sickening.
Says a lot for our society nowadays, must always take into account the other persons human rights before stopping them killing or robbing you.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: SparkyChick
The above story & several more like it, are why when installing an alarm system, I always try to convince domestic customers to have at least 2 panic buttons & an internal sounder installed. That's on top of the keypad panic facility & panel sounder.

2 things no intruder likes are Good exterior lighting & an alarm going off.
 
That's kind of why I like my system with the keyfob panic trigger :) Except when it's in my pocket and I'm loading the car early in the morning and I happen to set if off ;)

On the subject of internal sounders, I'd like to sound bomb our place, but am a bit concerned about the dog and how it might affect her. Any suggestions?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Specialist
Sorry to disagree with you Midwest (Thank SC), but it was our local Police that warned me about keeping anything other than a large torch at the side of the bed.
Stating that in court you'd find it very hard to prove that it was there for any other purpose than hitting an intruder, whereas many people keep a torch at the side of the bed.

Very true, your not allowed to chase them outside and whack them.

Where we used to live, a young couple were in bed in the middle of the night with their baby in a cot at the side of them.
Burglar broke in & was ransacking the place, young guy goes downstairs in his skimpies with a crowbar he'd kept at the side of the bed & confronts the intruder.
Intruder turned on him so got whacked with the crowbar, police were called & when they arrived promptly arrested the young householder for assault on the intruder.
When it came to court, Judge said there was no legitimate reason for having the crowbar up in the bedroom, result: young guy doing 6 months & having to pay intruder compensation for his injuries. Intruder received a caution.

What you have to consider is what you did at the time reasonable.

Without knowing the circumstance in the case you've highlighted it is difficult to comment. If the young man had confronted the burglar, and the burglar then attacked him, the young man could of used a crowbar to defend himself. It is not a nicety for someone to compare the levels of force at the time, but it would have to be reasonable. If the young man hit the burglar with the crowbar, for no other reason than he was angry that he was being burgled, perhaps that was what was judged to be unreasonable.

Sec 3 Criminal Law Act, 'A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in the effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders, or of persons unlawfully at large'.

Common Law, 'If you have an honestly held belief that you or another, are in imminent danger, then you may use such force as is reasonable and necessary to avert that danger'.

The responsibility for the use of Force is an individual decision, which may have to be justified in legal proceedings.

Having a Samurai sword by your bedside, might be difficult to defend as reasonable. However, if a burglar broke into your house armed with a gun with intent to harm you, and you used the sword to defend yourself, would that not be reasonable.
 
@SparkyChick to be honest, not something I've ever been asked for.
But a Company called Vimpex (I think) used to make a Pet safe sounder, might be worth giving them a look. Think the frequency was quite low on them.
(Not fair, your making my poor old brain work on a Sunday :))

@Midwest: No other circumstances to it than were laid out in my post, Intruder turned on householder & got hit with a crowbar which broke his arm. That's it, with results as listed. Can't tell you any more than that.

The topic of reasonable force is pretty debatable, what you or I call reasonable force would no doubt be different as would a courts opinion.
 
As said, the use of reasonable force is subjective. And as you said ultimately, it would be courts, or more precisely a juries job to decide. Perhaps one day, you may have to decide if you're in one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DPG
@SparkyChick to be honest, not something I've ever been asked for.
But a Company called Vimpex (I think) used to make a Pet safe sounder, might be worth giving them a look. Think the frequency was quite low on them.
(Not fair, your making my poor old brain work on a Sunday :))

Thanks hon, missed this. Will check them out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Specialist
Wonderful mate, first 4 years the neighbours were brilliant.
Since then we've had a Fake hardman, Drug dealer dealing from there, Druggie prostitute than ran her trade from there.
Druggie car thieves (Police there daily, 7 times new years eve) & now this druggie lunatic.
Anyone got any Semtex ?.
Move to the valleys buddy none of that up here LOL
On a serious note though if you need a good sparks mate let me know.
 
Spot on. The phrase you have to remember is, 'I feared for my life your honour so I hit him as hard as a could'
 

Similar threads

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses Heating 2 Go Electrician Workwear Supplier
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Advert

Daily, weekly or monthly email

Thread starter

Joined
Location
Milnthorpe

Thread Information

Title
Tests for replacement consmer unit
Prefix
N/A
Forum
UK Electrical Forum
Start date
Last reply date
Replies
80

Advert

Thread statistics

Created
Jon_,
Last reply from
Specialist,
Replies
80
Views
6,022

Advert