Originally published September 12 2012
In the UK, homeowners who defend themselves against burglars and violent criminals are routinely arrested and thrown in prison
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) There is a saying - in the U.S., anyway - that a "man's house is his castle." That saying can carry a host of meanings, not the least of which is that a man's home is his sacred sanctuary and it cannot be violated by anyone.
But that's here in the United States, where political correctness in the legal system hasn't quite reached the level it has in our cousin country, Great Britain.
There, defending your home can land you in jail, while the trespasser criminal is allowed, in some cases, to get off scot-free.
A report in the Daily Telegraph provided a glimpse into this topsy-turvy, upside-down legal precedent.
In one recent incident, a farm tenant and his wife, both of whom had suffered a number of break-ins already, were arrested and jailed after using a legally-owned firearm (not an easy thing to obtain in the gun-free zone of England) to shoot at and wound one of two burglars who surprised the couple in the night.
But wait. The outrage gets worse.
Multiple robberies, but that doesn't seem to matter
According to reports, the husband used his weapon to fire at the intruders, who then fled the isolated farmhouse before calling police.
Yes, that's right: Both of the burglars were shot and wounded, and one of them actually called the cops. But he must've known what he was doing because his victim got arrested for nothing more than defending his home.
"This is not the first time they have been broken into," said the arrested man's mother, in comments to the paper. "They have been robbed three or four times. One of them was quite nasty."
The mother went on to say the couple has never been injured during the series of robberies, but obviously they were "marked" as an "easy score" by the local thugs, and it might only have been just a matter of time before "quite nasty" turned, literally, into something quite nasty. Victims are never empowered; only criminals who are allowed to operate unchallenged are empowered.
Other farmers in the area chimed in as well. They, too, have been victimized.
"We had three Land Rovers stolen," one told the paper. "We had fitted one with a tracker and it was recovered in Birmingham."
In the case of the farm tenant, four men - the two who were wounded and two others suspected of taking part - were indeed arrested, but the victim and his wife were also charged. According to the Telegraph, the victimized couple was booked on "suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm."
Defend your home, go to jail
Without question, the case is likely to reignite a debate within Great Britain about a homeowner's right to defend his property, the paper said. That debate initially began in the late 1990s after another farmer, Tony Martin, shot two burglars at his remote home. Martin shot at Brendan Fearon, 29, and Fred Barras, 16, after they broke into his home.
He fired three times. Barras was struck in the back and although he managed to eventually escape through a window, he died moments later. Martin, meanwhile, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, which was later reduced to manslaughter and five years in prison. Nice of the court to cut him a break.
In 2009, millionaire businessman Munir Hussain fought back against a knife-wielding intruder with a metal pole and cricket bat; the burglar had tied up his family at their Buckinghamshire home.
For daring to defend himself and his family, Hussain was jailed for more than two years, though his attacker was spared prison.
Lucky for Hussain he eventually got an understanding judge who reduced his sentence to one year in jail, which was suspended.
What a guy.
Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
http://www.naturalnews.com/034537_NDAA_Bill_of_Rights_Obama.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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