Posted on 12/17/2013 10:17:50 AM PST by Impala64ssa
This has been explained a million times, and I am tired of doing it, but I will do it again for both of you.
When there is an incident in the UK where a suspected burglar has been killed or badly injured, the procedure here is to ‘arrest’ everyone, in order to take them to the police station, question everyone and then release the homeowner if the police are satisfied, as they are in 99.99% of cases, that the self defence was within the law (which I will come on to in a moment).
Yes, we Brit freepers all agree that to Americans that sounds backward and even unfair, but that’s the way we do it. Arrest, question, sort out, release. I fully understand that its seems weird to Americans.
As to self-defence, contrary to myth, it is perfectly legal to defend yourself and home/family, yes even to the point of killing an attacker or burglar (as a Manchester man did last year to a burglar and was found to be perfectly within his rights to do so). The law since 2000 has in fact been strengthened not once but twice towards the VICTIM.
For all the headlines, there are and have been only a tiny, tiny amount of cases of where the homeowner has been found to have acted outside reasonable force. One was Tony Martin (which imo was a bad decision, and most Brits think that), another for example was an Asian family who tracked a burglar a mile from the home and then used a car to run him over again and again, and almost killed him)
It is a complete myth that the British are not allowed to defend body or home, and its also a myth that people in the UK go to jail to even defending body and home/family.
The couple were released with no charge.
The Martin case was a disgrace and most British people and all the UK/Irish freepers here have said so over the years on FR. Martin was convicted (wrongly imo) because he shot them in the back as they were running away, which the courts deemed not justifiable self-defence. The Hussein case was also one which I and every other Brit freeper (if memory serves) condemned. And we all condemned the stupidity of the case mentioned here.
That however does not change the fact that they are a tiny amount of cases, and do not support this myth that any Limey who defends self and home and family goes to jail. That is rubbish. 99% of incidents where a burglar is killed or injured do NOT end in the UK with anything for the homeowner but a pat on the back.
Just a few months ago, a man stabbed to death a burglar in Manchester and was found to be well within his rights of self-defence. That never gets mentioned except by myself and other British freepers because it dosent fit the crowing some Freepers wish to do re the UK.
I said they were myths.
We’re myth collectors.
For more than two years, Sydney Davis’s house has been under siege from youths throwing stones.
After two hours of bombardment in the latest attack and no sign of the police, the 65-year-old retired builder decided enough was enough.
As a particularly large missile landed in his kitchen, he grabbed a plank of wood from the garden and ran towards the gang to scare them away.
The police arrived just in time - to arrest Mr Davis for possession of an offensive weapon.
He now faces up to six months in prison. Yesterday Mr Davis said he was bewildered by the decision to prosecute him.
He claims objects have been thrown at his house on 700 separate occasions. His windows have been smashed five times in eight months.
‘Something needs to be done to stop these kids. They are out there every night,’ he said.
‘One of my neighbours even had a seven-month-old in their kitchen when a brick came through the window.
‘It showered glass across the baby’s face. When these kids see the police they are off through the alleyways. The police have got no chance of catching them.’
Mr Davis’s 42-year- old wife Pauline dialled 999 when their home came under attack yet again last week, but two and a half hours later officers had failed to arrive.
The couple’s two sons, five and seven, were cowering behind the sofa when their father ran at the gang.
He recalled: ‘My wife called the police at 6 o’clock. But [the youths] just kept on throwing stones.
‘I have two kids and if one of those stones hit them it could have caused some really nasty damage.
‘I left the back door open to stop them smashing it.’
When officers arrived outside his home in Swindon, Wiltshire, Mr Davis was handcuffed and led away to the cells, where he was later charged.
The youths ran off. ‘What in the world is this country coming to that the police arrest people like me for protecting their own property?’ he said yesterday.
‘The police say they want to reduce crime, yet they let evil little toe-rags like this off. Then they prosecute hard-working, upstanding residents like me.
The law is, quite simply, a colossal ass.’
Wiltshire police claim to have increased their patrols after two houses in the region were attacked by arsonists.
Officers’ shift patterns were also changed so they would be in the neighbourhood after dark, while the local council is considering blocking-off some of the alleyways.
Yesterday a spokesman confirmed that no youths were arrested in relation to the incident.
Local councillor Justin Tomlinson said homeowners in the area were ‘living in fear’ of unruly youths.
‘We have sympathy with frustrated local residents - the Government continues to ignore a broken society, and therefore it is little wonder that frustrations boil over.’
Your first point as written indicates that if an individual police officer WANTED to carry a gun on duty he’d be allowed to do so, which certainly contradicts the following quote from the Home Office website:
“The ability to use firearms is limited to a relatively small number of highly trained officers.” http://tna.europarchive.org/20100419081706/http:/www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/firearms/index.html
Effectively, the police on the UK streets ARE banned from using guns, if the access is limited “to a relatively small number of highly trained officers”.
2) Again, female officers entering a mosque are REQUIRED to wear the headdress even if they are not muslims. I do stand corrected about their having to wear them at other times since I can’t find the article I remember that mentioned their required use when visiting muslim households; maybe only the community service officers are required to wear them on those occasions. Maybe not, but female police officers aren’t required to wear mantillas or lace caps when they enter a Catholic church or household in the line of duty, are they?
3) An armed bobbie or bystander might have made all the difference in the lives of the Rigby family. Even a quickly swung purse, backpack, or trash bin aimed at the attackers legs might have made a difference. Of course even a sonic screwdriver would have changed events, but those are as rare as guns over there, right? (The last comment is intended to try to lighten up this conversation.)
The point is that each and every one of us has the responsibility to be ready to respond to the needs of those around us, especially when they’re in danger. Government should be promoting an actively trained citizenship, not tying the hands of even the guardians of the citizens.
I’m of Scottish ancestry (granted over 100 years ago). Stop the Islamization of your nation or dhimitude will be the heritage of your children.
I don’t think my first post did. To clarify, its is police procedure in the UK (or at least the mainland) for its ‘standard’ officers to be unarmed as far as firearms are concerned. Everybody knows this, public, police and those wishing to join. After 2 yrs ‘on the beat’, a PC is free if he/she wishes to apply for a specialised post. Which includes firearms units.
I don’t think the police should be required to change headgear when entering a place of worship or similar. Apologies if I didnt make that clear. At best, take the hat off, as you would in other non-religious circumstances.
As to Rigby, the average bobby is armed with a 50000v taser, so yes, a police officer would have made a difference. Alas, they were on patrol locally but not on that street.
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