WHEN YOU'RE AFRAID OF THE 60% ISSUES, YOU REMAIN A MINORITY (via Robert Schwartz):

Time to let people kill burglars in their homes, says Met chief (John Steele, 04/12/2004, Daily Telegraph)

Householders should be able to use whatever force is necessary to defend their homes against criminals, even if it involves killing the intruder, the country's most senior police officer said yesterday.

Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said those who defended their families and property should only face prosecution over injuries to intruders in "extreme circumstances", where they could be shown to have used gratuitous violence.

Speaking exclusively to the Telegraph, days after John Monckton, a financier, was stabbed to death in an attempted robbery at his home in Chelsea, Sir John said: "My own view is that people should be allowed to use what force is necessary and that they should be allowed to do so without any risk of prosecution.

"There's a definite feeling around when I go out on the beat with officers and talk to members of the public that we need clarity in the law."

He said the current legal test of "reasonable force", which has evolved in common law, seemed to be weighted against householders and left the public confused about their rights.

Were the Tories still a coherent party they could ride such issues back to power.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 15, 2004 3:03 PM