Here we go again . . .

[sir.prize]

http://www.mirror.co....port-115875-23429591/

Once more an 'illegal intruder' comes off worse following a confrontation. The householder is subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder.
No doubt the debate will again be 'should the householder be held responsible?' After all, allegedly he was merely at home, minding his own business, then suddenly placed in an awful situation which could lead to his life being completely ruined. It is difficult to comprehend how one's life can alter in a moment - from possible contentedness one minute, to sheer trauma and an unbelievable future in the next.
Who is the victim here?

[sandyRoe]

The householder. I doubt if this will ever reach the courts.

[boxtops]

I guess they will cite "reasonable force" but if I were in the house and someone broke in, they'd deserve everything I could throw at them.

[ummmm]

The householder is the victim. It's instinct to protect yourself.

[China Doll]

We don't know anything about it yet so it's hard to make any kind of judgement. E.g. The victim is actually a hardened criminal expecting retribution from a rival criminal who sent his Mrs and kid out and waited for the 'show down'..

^^^ I'm obviously not saying it's anything like that and probably is just a burglary going hideously wrong (for all concerned) but without more information I don't see the point in speculating.

[rojash]

It's perfectly normal in a situation of a violent confrontation to arrest someone "on suspicion". That doesn't mean that the person has been found guilty, or even charged.
The time for your discussion is after the investigation is completed, when all the facts are known.

[birdie1971]

Wouldn't an already unfortunate situation such as this be made less sensational if the press reported it as something like, “The home owner is helping police with their enquiries”, rather than, “The home owner has been arrested on suspicion of murder.”?

This may seem like a trivial point but unfortunately some members of the general public seem incapable of knowing the difference between suspicion and guilt.

[jake-the-peg]

Of course if you want to do someone in the best thing to do would be to drag the body back to your house and call the police and say it was an illegal intruder.

Not saying that happened here - just it won't be long before someone tries it on.

In such a serious case it's perfectly right for the police to arrest all involved until it's all been sorted out IMHO

[anotheoldgit]

Perhaps he will be cleared just as in these cases.

http://www.mirror.co....gise-115875-22198058/

http://news.bbc.co.uk...ghamshire/2985186.stm

http://www.timesonlin...uk/article5889125.ece

And they say "You can kill a burglar if you have to, but not if you want to.

http://www.timesonlin.../uk/article509370.ece

[youngmafbog]

Jake has a point.

Its a pity an arrest leads to your DNA and mugshot on file forever when you are not prosecuted. That is what is wrong plus the length of time it takes plod to make their mind up.

[Gladeian]

It is not the time "plod" takes to make his mind up, it is our ever-efficient Crown Prosecution Service that dithers about charging matters in a case such as this.

[factor-fiction]

There is sometimes more to these cases than is initially apparent

[craft1948]

Allegedly flowers from the 'victim's' family have been placed at the scene......I know what I'd do with them.