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Home Defender Gets Arrested

Man Bashes Home Invader: Police

The intruder, aged 38, allegedly used a piece of wood to force his way in by knocking the door off its hinges. Police said a scuffle broke out before the resident allegedly hit the intruder in the head with the bat and continued to beat him after he had fallen to the ground.
Ref. https://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18932923-29280,00.html

Arrested Defender Home

It appears that the home owner went a little over the edge, but at the same time, it doesn't surprise me that the home owner is being prosecuted for protecting his home and family. After all, it is up to the police to do the protecting. Since they can't be on the spot, they have to try to find and punish the miscreants who rape, murder, break and enter, steal, etc. Common people have no right or reason to try to protect themselves, their families, or their property.

Come on! The criminal used a piece of wood, to break down the door of the house! Was he going to attack the homeowner? Was the guy with the bat protecting his family? Was the criminal getting back up after getting knocked down?

The guy protecting his family was probably overcome with adrenaline and emotion, just having had his door broken down. Since the wonderful government of Australia has decreed that people are not allowed the means to protect themselves, is it any wonder that a law-abiding homeowner would get a little out of hand after someone attacks him?

He should be getting an award for putting the trash in its place, instead of being charged with a crime. I would be willing to bet that the homeowner spends more time in prison than the guy who broke into the house.

By the way - does Australia even consider the concept of private property? It doesn't sound like it to me.

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Well if guns were legalised maybe he could have shot the guy and killed him, that would have made everything better. Or if the guy who tried to break in had a gun they could have shot each other, both died, and everyone would be happy.

Look I must admit I was stunned by this report. I think it only made the news because most Australians believe in a right to protect their home and defend themselves. But you have to give the police a fair go. They rock up to a house, somebody is beaten severely with a baseball bat by a man. At the end of the day there were three men in the house and one man who was knocked unconscious by the bat wielding man. Of course the cops are going to charge the man who did more damage. How on earth can they know who was the aggressor or whether the man was trying to break in or any of the details of this incident? In Australia we don't presume things or blindly believe what people say. It's a matter of his word versus mine. If it is revealed in a court that the man was legitimately defending his house/himself the charges won't stand.

While we are sometimes contemptuous of the media, should we trust everything in this report simply because it makes exciting news?

Offtopic but, I also take your point about the "wonderful Government of Australia". I too was disgusted when they blindly supported Bush on his conquest of Iraq, Afghanistan and just about anything that comes out of his mouth for a free trade agreement.

Message Edited! Persephone: Use offtopic tags as necessary. Use spell check please. Took out unnecessary language to express a point.

Arrested Defender Home

I am of the mind that if someone steps foot into your house to commit a crime, then they are out of luck! A man protecting his family should have the right defend his family to a point in which he feels safe. If he goes a little overboard because the adrenaline is flowing because of the danger to his family, then oh well. It was the criminal who opened that flood gate. No person should be prosecuted for going to far when a criminal is breaking into your house. You don't know what he is going to do our what he is capable of, just make sure he doesn't have the ability to do anything before you stop, I say.

Arrested Defender Home

I too believe that people have a right to defend their property or person. However, in this instance there are a lot of assumptions being made about this person who was severely injured.

A police officer is not a mind reader and does not have the ability to turn back time. They must be proper and arrest anyone who commits assault. This will go before a court, evidence will be presented and if the criminal is found to have acted in this way, then he will be prosecuted.

The guy who was hurt is in such a condition he was unlikely to be able to assist police with their investigations when this report was filed. So the details of this incident are pretty much what the home protector has said.

To play the devil's advocate, I will throw a further scenario to gauge your opinions. If the guy who tried to break into this house was going after the man who lived there because he had killed that guy's wife, how would you then feel about the situation?

I actually disagree with you on this point to a degree. If a kid breaks into a house for petty theft and is barely armed, and an overprotective man then shoots and seriously injures or kills the kid, then I believe he ought to be prosecuted.

Home Defender Gets Arrested

Your right, as with everything thing it is rarely one or the other but usually somewhere in between. In this generation, we have had the insanity of a man burglarizing a house, falling through the roof, landing on knives that stuck in his back that caused permanent paralysis, and he sued the owner of the house and won. That kind of ludicrous judicial allowance has tainted my view of this subject. But you are still right, if a teenager breaks in, the owner doesn't have the right to brutal put him down if lesser force is sufficient. But then, you had it when you said we weren't there. If he had tried to pull a gun after I knocked him down, I would have beat him hard. But there are exceptions when the home owner can go way to far, and for those cases, I suppose justice still should prevail. If the punishment should fit the crime, I don't suppose that a man being brutally assaulted with a bat is justice for a simple burglary, if he had no intent to harm.

Home Defender Arrested

Arvhic, while I understand where you are coming from, I don't think the issue here is dealing with guns, simply protecting one's home. I understand your views about having guns since I read your comments in that discussion. However, in this case, a gun was not used, so I think you've made your point about the gun issue, so let's move on.
As for this incident, I honestly cannot say that I would act differently. I agree a full investigation needs to be carried out, but if things check out, and it is proven that this man indeed broke into the house and the homeowner defended himself, should he be prosecuted? What say you about self-defense? Should the man not have defended himself, and let the guy invade his home and do whatever he wants? Regardless of whether the man who broke in did so for valid reasons, he still broke in, and once that occurs, I think the homeowner should have the right to defend himself at reasonable cost.

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Malexander, my point about the guns is at what price should one protect their home? That is the wider issue of this debate.

In this particular example, if the guy who was beaten up was a genuine criminal and attacked the other men (and there was more than one of them) than I have no problems with someone defending their home. I would do the same thing But we simply don't know the facts of this case until it plays out in a court of law.

This guy might have had a reason for approaching the house, they may have had an argument, we simply are not sure. The guy was in a serious but stable condition in hospital so this report is only considering the view-point of the person who assaulted. I think the police did the right thing, they had no choice.

I think sometimes the judicial system does over-protect criminals. That example Konquererz posted is mind-blowing. Thankfully Australia hasn't quite become that litigious! But I am sure we will get there one day if lawyers have anything to say about it.

Punishment must fit the crime.

Offtopic but, I've had my home burgled before and it made me very angry. I lost an X-Box and FIFA 2006, which I had only bought the day before. Thankfully nothing serious was taken and no-one was home at the time. It's definitely a horrible feeling having your private space breached, but perhaps it would be an even worse feeling being smashed with a baseball bat. At the time I felt aggressive but in hindsight I am glad nothing like that eventuated.

Edited: arvhic on 29th Apr, 2006 - 2:57am