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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be glad 72 year old man who stabbed and killed a robber

31 replies

Mitmoo · 07/09/2011 11:58

Is not going to face charges.

Quick reminder of the original article:

72-year-old shopkeeper held after stabbing to death robber

An elderly shopkeeper has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after an armed raider was killed in a botched robbery and a second left in hospital.

Police cordon off the outside of the shop in Old Trafford, Manchester.

Cecil Coley, 72, is in police custody today after dramatic scenes at a florists on Shewsbury Street, Old Trafford, at 9.40pm last night.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8664954/72-year-old-shopkeeper-held-after-stabbing-to-death-robber.html

OP posts:
worraliberty · 07/09/2011 12:01

If you click the 'Convert links automatically' box, the http will appear as a link.

GooseyLoosey · 07/09/2011 12:02

YABU. One of the things I am most proud of in the country is our legal system. It applies to everyone regardless of wealth or status and is generally fair. He committed a crime - there are a variety of defences available to him, including self-defence, but the police should not determine whether there is a case to answer. This should be for the courts. He should probably be acquitted (don't know all the facts), but I do not want to live in a country where police determine guilt or innocence. They are not equipped to do so.

pippilongsmurfing · 07/09/2011 12:06

You are glad a man stabbed and killed another man?? That is a bit sick and weird.Hmm

YABVU, it is not up to the police to determine who is, or is not guilty, that is what the courts are for.

FreddyG · 07/09/2011 12:07

A dead criminal can only be a cause for celebration IMO.

Tanif · 07/09/2011 12:08

Goosey it's not the police that decided, it's the Crown Prosecution Service.

slavetofilofax · 07/09/2011 12:10

YANBU.

A 72 year old doesn't have that many lines of self defense open to him when faced with someone much younger and fitter, and it is right that he shouldn't be charged. Court cases cost a lot of money, why waste that on determining something that is blatantly obvious.

StrandedBear · 07/09/2011 12:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mario11 · 07/09/2011 12:17

AGREE with OP. Kill the bastards. This country should be like AMERICA.

GeekStinkBreath · 07/09/2011 12:20

yanbu. Burglars and the like are nothing more than pieces of dog shit. The fewer of them around, the better.

Once you break the law in such a way, you give up your human rights IMO. Presumably the people saying YABU would have preferred the innocent pensioner to be stabbed instead Hmm

ivykaty44 · 07/09/2011 12:22

YANBU

The old man could be dead if he hadn't defended himself against the two armed robbers. What sort of country do we live in where we would prosecute someone who was acting to defend their own life

SeldomSeenCake · 07/09/2011 12:32

i agree that it is not one persons right to take the life of another person but...

there are some cases where i think defending yourself/your business/your family against attack is 100% justified and if a person attacks another they should be aware that the situation may not go in their favour.

the pensioner defended himself against being robbed and attacked by 2 grown and presumably strong men. one of those men then died as a result of the consequences of his actions against his victim. i think this was the fault of the criminals who attacked an elderly man and not the victim who defended himself against attack.

i believe (i hope this never gets put to the test though...) that if the lives of myself or family or our hard earned belongings were under threat i would act in the same way to defend what is mine. maybe not with a knife but a heavy object maybe... and i would hazard a guess that i wouldnt be the only person to feel this way.

Callisto · 07/09/2011 12:37

I'm glad that he wasn't charged too. I think the law protects criminals at the expense of victims too often in this country.

CustardCake · 07/09/2011 12:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sue52 · 07/09/2011 12:40

I agree he should not be charged, however I feel no need to celebrate the death of the criminal.

Insomnia11 · 07/09/2011 12:47

where we would prosecute someone who was acting to defend their own life

We haven't prosecuted him. I don't want to live in a country where suspicious deaths aren't investigated. The police needed to check what the old man was alleging was correct. It was, and it was taken no further.

Unfortunately there have been cases where someone alleged to be an intruder who was stabbed to death was nothing of the sort, and it turned out to be not self-defence but pre-meditated murder. You must see that the police have to verify the circumstances and not just take people at their word.

VelvetSnow · 07/09/2011 12:52

A farmer can legally shoot a dog if the dog appears to be threatening his livelihood.

A shopkeeper should be able to do the same.

YANBU, I agree with Callisto aswell, criminals are protected too much at the expense of victims.

itisnearlysummer · 07/09/2011 12:52

YANBU.

JaceyBee · 07/09/2011 12:55

"Burglars and the like are nothing more than pieces of dog shit"

Wow. What a horrible thing to say. Have you never wondered about the circumstances that might lead someone to commit a burglary? Or thought that the opportunities available to them might be so limited that they don't see that they have any choice.

Childhood poverty and neglect/abuse, addictions, mental health issues. These problems do not make people 'dog shit'.

Try having some basic human empathy.

ivykaty44 · 07/09/2011 12:57

Yes - the CPS has looked at the information the police have supplied and decided not to prosecute this man for defending himself.

I didn't say the police shouldn't investigate

onehellofaride · 07/09/2011 13:01

YANBU I work in criminal law and I understand alot of the circumstances which drive people to commit crimes however the man was protecting himself

Hammy02 · 07/09/2011 13:22

JaceyBee I assume you've never been burgled? It is a horrific crime and an elderly relative of mine spent the last 20 years of her life in constant fear after being burgled. There is no excuse. The world is a better place without scum like this.

GooseyLoosey · 07/09/2011 13:25

I am aware that the CPS will have taken the decision based on information supplied by the police. However, when it is clear that he did kill the man, I think that it should generally be for a court to determine the legality of that act.

I do not want to live in a country where killing someone is ever not taken seriously.

Obviously I don't know the basis on which the CPS reached their decision, so I cannot say in this case that it was not the right decision, but as a general principle, I do not agree that people should not be tried simply because we think that their actions were morally justifiable. That is such an unpleasantly slippery slope that I don't want to contemplate it.

Tanif · 07/09/2011 13:29

The CPS reached their decision because they didn't see a realistic prospect of a conviction. To proceed with a trial would have wasted the tax payers money and had the DM up in arms and baying for their blood.

The CPS staff are legal professionals (solicitors, barristers etc), they're not just people dragged in off the street and asked for their opinion.

fit2drop · 07/09/2011 13:29

pippilongsmurfing Wed 07-Sep-11 12:06:07
You are glad a man stabbed and killed another man?? That is a bit sick and weird.

Errr where did OP say that?

she said she was glad he hadn't been charged.

Claw3 · 07/09/2011 13:31

Well he was obviously cleared of the charges, cant say that im glad someone was murdered in the process though.