So they finally let this guy go after major outcry in the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/b...ts/8469850.stm

I cant decided whether he did go a bit over the top, hitting the guy so hard that he broke the cricket bat in to three pieces but then I think to myself, if this was me and my wife and kids were tied up and held at knife point I think if would flip too.

The Career Burglar ended up with brain damage (so they say) so he was never charged with the offence. sounds about right for the UK.

what would you have done?

After all this guy had done a runner after the victim escaped by throwing a table at him.

It was only then that they chased him down the street and battered him literally. The lawyers say that the family was out of danger but, even still, this guy tied him & his family up and held them at knife point. if he hadn't got away who know what would have happened.

One word for this guy - SCUM. did he get what was coming? i think so.

I firmly believe that once you see your family trussed up like pigs, with men standing around saying that they are going to kill then, that you lose all sense of rational thought and enter some kind of blood-rage. It's easy for people to say "no it was over the top" or "I would have killed them" but until you are in that situation, you just never have an inkling how you would react.

My personal view is that if anyone takes a gun or knife to my wife and children, the centre of my world, and tells me that they are going to end their lives, then they are fair game for retribution, medieval-style. Hopefully i'll never find out.

Yes that seems quite abusive that the cricket bat broke in 3 pieces...
maybe he should have send a first verbal warning, along with a recorded delivery letter, informing the "victim" of his intentions.

"Dear aggressor,
Thank you for choosing my house to tie my familly and use a gun in front of us,
I would like to inform you that, unfortunately, I am not complying with the victim act 2009, regarding passive behavior.
Therefore, I will attempt to defend myself and the familly with a criket bat.
Please expect in the next 15 minutes a direct hit from the left with a criket bat.

Kind regards,
Your victim".

If such guy do this to me or familly, the criket bat will be in 200pieces, and his balls will be in his mouth.

Fair enough

the burgler victim, who is too brain damaged to stand trial, is apparently well enough to continue burgling

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...sent-jail.html

(sorry for the daily mail link, first one google threw up)

A bit of contentious issue this one, given the severity (allegedly) of the injuries to the perpetrator. However, I can fully understand the victim acting violently once the red mist had descended, having seen his family terrorised and threatened. After all, in the circumstances a citizen's arrest would not have been very appropriate, I fear!

I am grateful that the law bowed to popular demand and freed the victim, but think that the perpetrator has been let off very lightly indeed.

can this really happen? unbelievable!

That's what we call "democracy".

A man's with a gun in your house, threatening your familly...

And then we can't defend them in the name of democracy, human rights, etc...

Have we become brainless victims?

Take a glass of water, break it on someone's head: you can easily break their skull!!!

Take the remains, cut the guy's veins in one little move!!!

Why are we talking about "severity of the injuries"??? we are fragile, we can die just with choking on a peanut! why do we need to find excuses to a criminal?

He was waving a gun at the man's familly, he was in their house illegally with a deadly weapon!

Should we really bother if that criminal is being kicked?????

Lucky for the burglar he didn't do that in the States. Would have been shot straight after entering the house.

The burgled's brother (whom he called to come help out) still has another 2 years in jail.

He is a victim also.

Because he suffered psychological trauma after his brother got assaulted when commiting an home invasion, robbery, with a gun!


He should be given £5000 benefit every week for covering the damages he suffered.

I'm slightly bleeding heart when it comes to crime, anti-death penalty, etc. But if you tie up my family at knife point and I feel I have the tactical advantage, all bets are off.

For further viewing (NSFW) :