There is no justification for killing a thief caught in the act, albeit reasonable force may be used...the trouble, as many more eloquent on here have said, is that the thieves rarely get the sentences they deserve, but that is the fault of the system and the inadequate provision of prison places. If we had limitless space for offenders we could lock them up...but prison life itself is not seen as a deterent by many serial offenders because the regime in prison is not harsh enough. Exporting prisoners to, say, India, so outsourcing the problem is an interesting theme though...
It matters not what we think, the law has rules. Yes, of course you feel violated if a scumbag robs your house, your tools, but that is life.If a driver kills your child, that is the worst tragedy imaginable...does it make it any worse if that driver was drunk, or merely careless...eg on his mobile at the time? What if he was sober, driving carefully, and unfortunately the child just ran out in front of him? Either way, you have lost a child, he or she has killed, unintentionally.
The previous post about the barrister is in point here. He's just doing a job, and trying to get the best result for his client, subject to not knowing his client is guilty, of course.
My point is this...we all may suffer a loss from folks stealing from us, be it tools, money or lives..and we may all feel deep down that if the perpetrator dies we don't care (or couldn't care less) but equally we mustn't promulgate the idea that it's ok to wish these thieves dead. Hate them, yes, wish they were dead? Maybe, inside...but to promote the idea that it is better for them to die, because they are "scumbags" is against the rule of law...and one day, in our own lives, inadvertently, we may cause such suffering...and we would not wish to be seen as such lowlife that our death is a preferred result.
On a practical level, tools cost money...but the protection of them should not cost lives. It costs in insurance premiums, but I am not going into that arena! Some say insurers are scumbags, as are some bankers...many victims of both have been made penniless, and none has gone to jail. If you are a victim of tool theft (getting back to the original point) and you are not insured, well that is a true bu**er, for sure, but while it may make it very difficult to earn a living and support your family, you can at least try again...which you can't do if incarcerated...or dead.
