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Burglars suing home owners

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Is it?

When, in your opinion, was Britain greater than it is now?

Since 1997, this era has been by far the greatest one can possibly have hoped to have lived in Britain. It's a shame the Tory-Liberal scum coalition of crooks and vermin is doing all it can to ruin it.

I just feel like, if I were in court being sued by a burglar, my defence would be this:

Really?

I feel like once there was a time in Britain when that response would have been adequate. I don't feel that is the case now. Maybe I am wrong, but that is my feeling.

Reply 41

Prettygeek

Why don't we just invite them in for a drink, and when they get done for driving under the influence, have to pay the fine?

Reply 42

Prettygeek

Original post by ocelotrevs

I'd like to know how true this actually is though, because it smells like the time that people were warned not to put up the Union Jack during the World Cup, because it might offend Muslim.

When was that? I'm intrigued :smile:

Reply 43

anfieldred07

Original post by Dude Where's My Username

Like many other posters who are in full possesion of their own minds, I'm fed up of unoriginal, sheeptastic people who post this drivel in response to EVERY thread sourced from the Daily Mail. It's a tabloid artical. Not a Theoretical Physics journal. The source is irrelevant.

So to you and every other clown, stop posting this response. Thanks

Yes and Im fed up of threads with ridiculous stories (ALWAYS from the mail) but hey beggers cant be choosers.

Reply 44

Psyk

Original post by L i b

If it's there simply to make the window harder to break, then that's fine. I'm not saying you should be accountable for every stupid thing a burglar does - but when you either leave traps for them, or are so negligent as for it to make no difference, then I think there should be some liability, even for burglars.

Surely there's a difference between a trap and a deterrent? I can understand the problem if you have hidden traps inside the shed that are specifically there to injure a burglar if they break in, like putting a bear trap underneath the window. But if you have a clearly visible wire mesh in the window, isn't it completely their own fault if they injure themselves trying to smash it open? They had adequate warning that it was there and clearly no right to break in, so I don't see why the owner should be held responsible if they go ahead and do it anyway.

Reply 45

ocelotrevs

Original post by Prettygeek

When was that? I'm intrigued :smile:

Actually, it was the alleged ban of England shirt during the World Cup. There was a big thing on facebook about it, as well as stuff in the national press.

Reply 46

Mm_Minty

Makes you wonder who thought one day "I know! I'll make it possible for criminals to sue the victims if they get injured whilst committing a crime against them!"

Why stop at this? Why not make it legal for rapists to sue their victims for scratching them in the face? For murderers to sue their victim's family because they got hand-cramp whilst strangling them?

Reply 47

hareandhound

The real reason that traps and homemade anti burglar alarms are so discouraged is so that the emergency services are safe - if someone is burgling your shed the police don't want to be approaching through wire mesh trip wire, and if your house is on fire the fire service don't want to worry about trap holes or guns connected to doors.

One guy puts his mesh in his windows, the next connects cheese wire across the door, the third digs a hole in front of his shed and before he goes to bed or leaves he takes the lid off the hole and puts a grass mat over it.

The law is that you cannot do premeditated harm to someone, if you put in something that will deliberately hurt a burglar some time in the future, you are legally responsible to some extent. If you're attacked in the night in your home you can hit someone with a golf bat in self defense, but you can't rig up a golf bat to the face trap for anyone who walks through your front door.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 48

RadioHawk

i'd love to have a burgler fall into a pitfall trap :biggrin:

police can come and fish him out
guess i cant put spikes in it though :frown:

Reply 49

alex_hk90

It doesn't matter - I doubt a burglar would be able to afford a decent (read: expensive) enough lawyer to win the case anyway.

But personally I feel you should be able to make your (private) property as dangerous as you like.

Reply 50

joey11223

so what if someone is burglarizing my home and trips over some cuttler and falls down the stairs that's my fault then?

Hell we were burgled about 5 years ago and they broke down the back door even though it has a thin metal plate in (police officer said it must have taken ages to do it and was surprised no one heard it and rang them). One of them slashed themselves on part of the broken door when they climbed through it..., police said blood was useless, suppose minor crime doesn't involve DNA testing, but what if they'd somehow slashed an artery and bled out..that's our fault is it?