bundle I think the problem with reasonable force is that if you have been burgled time and time again then wanting to stop someone can lead you to being very unreasonable. In the heat of the moment (dark, little shits in your house yet again).
I lived in an area where being burgled was a routine part of life. And they were innocent little boys whowere up to high jinks. They were teenagers who carried knives (and left them in the bedrooms). I doubt they would have hesitated to use them, they were sharp enough.
I don;t agree with like for like. I think 40 years for Ian Huntley is fair enough, it's a reasonable sentence, I don't agree with the death penalty. But if someone gets shot burgling someone else, well what goes around comes around. I'll not waste any sympathy on him. I don't think that Tony Martin is some sort of freedom fighter hero with the greater good on his side. But I think he was driven to the position he ended up in because of the number of times he had been burgled and frustration at not ever getting anywhere.
We knew who burlged our house- we found some of the stuff on sale in town, so got some stuff back, they were done for handling and got fined (big wow- despite the fact they were going through the house with a knife). And they came back and tried to break in again, at which stage our landlord and a few mates had "words", (and it was just words), we weren't burgled again, although a friend was, 3 days after moving in.