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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

that the Man who killed a burglar he saw breaking into his house should not be jailed for 19 years

255 replies

LargeDeviation · 05/08/2022 17:59

He saw the man breaking into his house on a video doorbell, armed himself with a knife and went with his half-brother and killed the burglar. He has been jailed for 19 years.

Yes the violence he used was very extreme, but the burglar was breaking into his home! It is unreasonable to expect a dispassionate response. People should be able to defend their home and their family from intruders, including using force which would be considered unlawful or unreasonable in other settings.

Even if he must be found guilty by law, the sentence should take the circumstances into account and it should be a slap on the wrist.

OP posts:
giffyg · 05/08/2022 20:28

I can understand the knife because if you go to confront a burgler how do you know what they have or how they fight etc. I could understand a fracas that resulted in a stab wound but not chasing him down to keep stabbing however this is why it's not wise to steal from a drug dealer.

I think 19 yrs is fine but there is such a variety in sentences. Look at those teens who attacked Jack Woodley for fun, some got a minimum of 8 years.

Mummyoflittledragon · 05/08/2022 20:28

If someone broke into my house I too would kill them as I’d want to protect my DD at any cost

Most burglars only attempt to enter empty houses and normally leave immediately they discover someone is inside asleep. This happened to me and he left very quickly.

In this situation, the drug dealer should have been sent down for murder.

carefullycourageous · 05/08/2022 20:37

LargeDeviation · 05/08/2022 19:12

@carefullycourageous I used to vote Labour until Corbyn. Then I didn't vote at all.

I think crime is a much bigger political issue than it was even a few years ago - probably third just behind the economy and NHS, and just ahead of education and defence.

The politicians need to get the police to stop filling in paperwork and instead catch shoplifters, burglars, and muggers and the courts to actually lock them up for long prison sentences. Whoever actually has a plan to do that could win a lot of votes.

The police are not filling in paperwork, there are just insufficent police. The Tories cut 21,000 officers.

Every party bar the Tories would invest in more policing.

ilovesooty · 05/08/2022 20:38

bubblescoop · 05/08/2022 18:12

This is not self defence. His sentence is correct, if not on the lighter side.

Agreed. He's lucky it's not longer.

MarshaMelrose · 05/08/2022 20:41

mbosnz · 05/08/2022 20:12

That's why family members aren't the judge or on the jury. Because you can't make rational or reasonable decisions if your child is involved.

Absolutely. But when arguing that a disproportionate response of violence, resulting in death, should be deemed perfectly acceptable, hypothetically speaking, I would argue, that a person should be able to envisage that the person that was killed was their loved one. Hypothetically speaking. Not 'them or theirs'. But 'ours, and mine'.

To be fair, I never heard yet parents of murderers saying, he's always been bad. They always say he was loveable and lit up a room. Thugs that go round terrorising others. You're right that if one of those thugs was mine, I wouldn't want them hurt. But do my feelings override those of others whose own loved ones are being terrorised by my child or being threatened into criminal situations that could effect or ruin the rest of their lives. I'm not sure why it's always the honest, law-abiding people that are told to make allowances for scummy, illegal behaviour. Because you can bet your life those thugs aren't making any allowances for decent, good people.

mbosnz · 05/08/2022 20:44

That's my point. It provides balance. All of a sudden it goes from, 'knife the bastard in the back, it's what he deserves', to , 'okay, hang on a minute, it was a burglary, wannit, 'e didn't kill someone, hows about a nice reasonable jail sentence'. . .

Agrudge · 05/08/2022 20:44

Look at those teens who attacked Jack Woodley for fun, some got a minimum of 8 years

@giffyg

Not really the same thing some of the people sentenced were just there . Look up joint ventur/ joint enterprise

BirmaBrite · 05/08/2022 20:47

I'd think I'd kill to protect my own kin from being killed by a scumbag.

How many people are killed by burglars in the UK ?
Most burglaries round here involve a team of blokes coming from another city, breaking in, stealing the keys to your car and buggering off with it. Absolutely awful, but they are not interested in coming into contact with you or your own kin , they want to get in and out and off in the quickest time possible and be down the motorway before you notice whats happened.

Lunalae · 05/08/2022 20:49

You're not allowed to pick up weapons, form a gang and wander off to another location to kill someone, regardless of what they're doing or how you feel about it.

Self defence is fine. Vengeance isn't.

Testina · 05/08/2022 20:52

Why would you not read the basics of the case before posting?

giffyg · 05/08/2022 20:54

@Agrudge what is it you think I'm not aware of?

MrsSkylerWhite · 05/08/2022 20:54

What’s wrong with you?

I would certainly do my best to disarm a burglar.

kill them, fuck no.

giffyg · 05/08/2022 20:56

I would certainly do my best to disarm a burglar.

kill them, fuck no.

how would you disarm a burglar but ensure you don't kill them?

AMindNeedsBooks · 05/08/2022 21:00

user143677433 · 05/08/2022 18:03

Neither he nor his family were at home or in danger. He armed himself, took backup, went home and in cold blood stabbed the intruder in the face, then chased him, caught him, and finished the job.

That is not in any way OK. That is psychotic.

Agreed.

He wasn't fearful for his life, just pissed off someone tried to rob him. He deserves his sentence and I seriously doubt this is the first time he's been violent.

LynetteScavo · 05/08/2022 21:08

If I saw someone on my ring doorbell burgling my house I would dial 999 and stay away. His actions weren't self defense. They all sound as bad as each other.

MarshaMelrose · 05/08/2022 21:12

mbosnz · 05/08/2022 20:44

That's my point. It provides balance. All of a sudden it goes from, 'knife the bastard in the back, it's what he deserves', to , 'okay, hang on a minute, it was a burglary, wannit, 'e didn't kill someone, hows about a nice reasonable jail sentence'. . .

Balance? You're talking about two thugs with a history of criminal activity. The misery that they bring into people's lives, the terror they inflict on the people who they don't reckon show them respect is pitiless. So even though I'm strongly opposed to the death sentence, I have no sympathy for either. And a lot of people will be sleeping easier in their beds tonight. Maybe the courts should consult them on balance.

MrsSkylerWhite · 05/08/2022 21:15

giffyg · Today 20:56
I would certainly do my best to disarm a burglar.

kill them, fuck no.

how would you disarm a burglar but ensure you don't kill them?

fair point. I’m a black belt. If they had a gun I’d probably be ducked. I’d they didn’t,, I wouldn’t. They would.

fyn · 05/08/2022 21:17

@Agrudge it was clearly premeditated. He wasn’t home at the time of the burglary but saw it on his door camera. Instead of calling the police like any normal person, he went and got a knife. He then returned to the property with his armed family members and repeatedly stabbed him inside the property and then fatally in the neck in the street outside. It wasn’t self defence at all.

CakeCrumbs44 · 05/08/2022 21:17

Two armed men going after an unarmed man is not OK. He was stealing things, not a threat to life. They deserve all they get.

Str8talker · 05/08/2022 21:17

19 years is a bit harsh; maybe 5 would be fairer. Everyone knows it's wrong to steal. Reoffending burglars haven't learned their lesson, so what else should Society do?

FurAndFeathers · 05/08/2022 21:17

Staynow · 05/08/2022 18:07

This is what happens when the police are useless IMO. If he knew he could phone the police and they'd be straight round and arrest the burglar and he'd go to jail then he might have phoned the police instead. He deserved to go to jail though as he was in no danger and the violence was extreme but not that long IMO as he's not a danger to people who aren't breaking into his house (I assume).

He armed himself and deliberately set out to murder a person that had wronged him.
this time it was a burglar.
what if he’d killed a bloke his girlfriend kissed?
someone who nicked his bike?
someone who spilled his pint?

a person who is capable of calculated and deliberate murder in response to a personal affront is unlikely to draw much of an ethical line.

CakeCrumbs44 · 05/08/2022 21:19

giffyg · 05/08/2022 20:56

I would certainly do my best to disarm a burglar.

kill them, fuck no.

how would you disarm a burglar but ensure you don't kill them?

It's quite easy not to kill someone if you don't take a deadly weapon with you.

Maves · 05/08/2022 21:25

You live by the sword you die by the sword.

Triotriotrio · 05/08/2022 21:27

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 05/08/2022 19:21

Invalid in this case but what if you were home and a burglar broke in? Do you still think there's nothing worth more than a burglar's life?

Actually, working with offenders I think they'd be as terrified as I was that there was somwone home. I'd all the police.

AmyDudley · 05/08/2022 21:31

He stabbed a man repeatedly in the head and face then followed him out into the road and stabbed him in the neck. The word unreasonable doesn't begin to describe the level of derangement in those actions. Can you even imagine the level of violence and aggression (and psychopathy) needed to behave in that way? I can't for a second imagine anyone I have ever met thinking that is normal or justifiable behaviour. It was calculated murder, not a crime of passion, not self defence, not fear for the life of himself or his family. It was arming himself and going with intent to kill. It was massive overkill. It was murder - he was lucky he was only convicted of manslaughter. He's a violent murderous thug, who needs to be behind bars for a very long time, before he decides someone else needs killing.