78 year old arrested for murder of burglar, *Update: Cleared of all charge but still faces strife,

[palou]

donathos said:

palou said:

I think, it would require a reasonable threat to his life to justify the kill - depending on the details of what happened, I do believe that this should be illegal. Not a murder charge, but a charge nonetheless - perhaps a fine would do. A burglar is highly unlikely to attempt to kill/physically harm a cooperative victim, since that's not in his interest - if nothing more than as a security measure for the homeowner himself, engaging in fights against the thief should be discouraged.

Excuse me, but if someone breaks into my home, why should I rely on what's supposedly in the criminal's interest and trust him to act rationally? The criminal is risking life and limb for the sake of stealing, at least; his actions already suggest to me that he has a poor grasp of what's in his interest, and rational action. He has further established that he's has no respect for me or my rights. His actions are careless, dangerous and malevolent. How can I trust such a person at that point -- and how can I risk my family's lives?

If you have family in the house, that's fundamentally a different question. However, what concerns just yourself - if you don't do anything, the chances are extremely slim that the thief will actively try to kill you (there are over 300k burglaries in the UK per year - less than a hundred result in a death), but *engaging* the thief will *assure* you a fight. How does that seem like a good idea?