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'Betrayal' over home defence law
A DECISION not to pass a law giving homeowners greater power to defend their properties from intruders has been described as a "betrayal" by a local MP.
A DECISION not to pass a law giving homeowners greater power to defend their properties from intruders has been described as a "betrayal" by a local MP.Shailesh Vara, who represents North West Cambridgeshire, criticised the Government for doing a U-turn on its promised changes to self defence laws.
He had hoped Justice Secretary Jack Straw’s pledge to amend the law to favour the victim of an attack or burglary in a home would see the law changed.
That would have mirrored proposals contained in Mr Vara’s Private Members’ Bill of last year.
But the amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill now tabled by the Government, seeks only to clarify what constitutes “reasonable force”.
Whether or not “reasonable force” has been used is the current test to determine if someone has gone too far when tackling a burglar in their home.
Mr Vara said: “This is a betrayal of the former promise by Jack Straw. I will continue to champion the rights of the house holder.
“I very much hope it will not be long before the Government sees sense and gives greater protection to the householder when they are confronted by an intruder.
“I was originally hopeful that the Government was serious about changing the law in this area.
“Unfortunately, it now looks like Jack Straw’s Conference speech was a merely a populist gesture made in expectation of an early election.
“In contrast, my Private Members’ Bill of last year, and the Conservative Party’s amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill would change the balance of the law in favour of those being attacked, or having their property broken into.
“We would do this by simply changing the test of what is lawful so that only those who used ‘’grossly disproportionate force’’ in trying to defend themselves, others or their property would be at risk of prosecution.”
The debate about householders’ rights to use force to defend their property, and to what degree, was opened up when Norfolk farmer Tony Martin shot dead teenager Fred Barras during a burglary at his home in Emneth Hungate, near Wisbech, in 2001.
He was sentenced to five years in jail for manslaughter, and Brendan Fearon,one of the burglars who was injured in the incident, tried unsuccessfully to sue him for 15,000.
Other MPs have since attempted, on numerous occasions, to change the law.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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