Plan B Forum

Householder arrested after suspected burglars shot

A householder and his wife have been arrested in Leicestershire after two suspected burglars were hit with shotgun pellets.

The wounded men and two others have also been arrested.

Police said they were alerted by the householder, who said a group of men had broken into his home in Welby, Melton Mowbray, and that he had fired a legally held shotgun.

One of the suspected raiders called an ambulance. Another went to hospital.

Their injuries are not regarded as life-threatening, police said.

Officers said a man aged 35 and his wife aged 43 had been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

Four men aged 27, 23, 31 and 33 were arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary.

A statement from Leicestershire Police said: "Police were called at 12.26am this morning by a man reporting a group of men had broken into his home in Melton.

"The man stated that during the course of the incident he had fired a legally held shotgun and the intruders had left the scene.

"Around five minutes later the ambulance service called to tell us they had been called to a man with injuries consistent with shotgun injuries.

"A second man presented at Leicester Royal Infirmary with similar injuries."

An MP has said two householders should not be prosecuted for protecting their home after they were arrested for firing a gun at alleged burglars.

Alan Duncan, MP for Rutland and Melton, said the case was "straightforward" and the married couple from Welby were defending themselves.

Mr Duncan, a government minister, said: "If this is a straightforward case of someone using a shotgun to defend themselves against burglars in the dead of night, then I would hope that the police will prosecute the burglars and not my constituents.

"The householder is the victim here and justice should support them and prosecute the burglars."

The case will reignite the debate over a householder’s right to defend his property, which began in the late 1990s after the farmer Tony Martin shot two burglars at his remote Norfolk home. In 1999, Martin fired at Brendan Fearon, 29, and Fred Barras, 16, after they broke into the house in Emneth Hungate.

Three shots were fired, Barras was hit in the back and despite escaping through a window died moments later. Martin was convicted of murder and jailed for life, which was reduced on appeal to manslaughter and five years’ jail.

In 2009, the millionaire businessman Munir Hussain fought back with a metal pole and a cricket bat against a knife-wielding burglar who tied up his family at their home in Buckinghamshire. Hussain was jailed for two and a half years, despite his attacker being spared prison.

Appeal judges reduced the sentence to a year’s jail, suspended.

The case prompted David Cameron to announce that home owners and shopkeepers would have the right to protect themselves against burglars and robbers.

Last year, Peter Flanagan, 59, who fatally stabbed a burglar armed with a machete at his home in Salford, Great Manchester, escaped prosecution after the Crown Prosecution Service ruled that he was acting in self defence.

Scooter wrote:And if we learn that the burglar was shot in the back, and/or was off the property at the moment he was shot, what then?

Gob wrote:
Officers said a man aged 35 and his wife aged 43 had been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

The couple arrested for opening fire on intruders who targeted their isolated cottage will not face charges, the Crown Prosecution Service announced last night.

Andy and Tracey Ferrie had been held on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after dialling 999 to report that they had discharged a shotgun when a four-man gang broke in to their home in the middle of the night. The couple spent almost three days and nights in custody until they were released on bail late on Tuesday night.

Yesterday, hours after two men appeared in court charged with burglary in connection with the raid on the Ferries’ 200-year-old cottage, prosecutors said it was ‘clear’ the couple ‘did what they believed was necessary to protect themselves, and their home, from intruders’.

The decision was greeted as a victory for common sense by friends and relatives.

A judge praised burglars for their ‘courage’ and claimed prison ‘very rarely does anybody any good’ as he allowed a serial intruder to walk free from court.

Judge Peter Bowers said burglar Richard Rochford deserved to be jailed for two-and-a-half years but he decided to take an ‘extraordinary chance’ by not locking him up.

Recognising the controversy he was causing, the judge added: ‘I might get pilloried for it.’


Rochford, 26, burgled three homes in East Cleveland and tried to burgle another in the space of five days. He committed the crimes to feed a drug addiction that started when he was in prison for another offence, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Passing sentence, Judge Bowers told him: ‘It takes a huge amount of courage as far as I can see for someone to burgle somebody’s house. I wouldn’t have the nerve.

‘Yet somehow, bolstered by drugs and desperation, you were prepared to do that.’ The judge added: ‘I think prison very rarely does anybody any good. It mostly leaves people the chance to change their own mind if they want to. I don’t think anybody would benefit from sending you to prison today. We’d all just feel a bit easier that a burglar had been taken off the streets.’

Rochford could have been jailed for two-and-a-half years but instead he was given a suspended 12-month jail sentence, a two-year supervision order with drug rehabilitation, 200 hours’ unpaid work and a one-year driving ban. The offence was Rochford’s first burglary conviction, although he was cautioned for burgling a home at the age of ten. He has previously been jailed for three years for arson.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z25erQqTYd

The decision was greeted as a victory for common sense by friends and relatives.

Passing sentence, Judge Bowers told him: ‘It takes a huge amount of courage as far as I can see for someone to burgle somebody’s house. I wouldn’t have the nerve.

I don’t think anybody would benefit from sending you to prison today. We’d all just feel a bit easier that a burglar had been taken off the streets.’

A judge who described a drug-addicted serial thief as "courageous" is to be investigated by the judicial watchdog.

Judge Peter Bowers reportedly made the remark while sentencing 26-year-old Richard Rochford for burglary.

The Teesside Crown Court judge also said he thought prison did criminals "little good".

His remarks sparked criticism and Prime Minister David Cameron said burglars were "cowards" whose "hateful crime" violated victims.

A spokesperson for the Office for Judicial Complaints said it had "received a number of complaints in relation to comments that His Honour Judge Bowers made in relation to a case in Teesside Crown Court on 4 September 2012".

David Cameron on ITV Daybreak: "Burglars should be sent to jail"

"Those complaints will be considered under the Judicial Discipline Regulations in the usual way. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage," the spokesperson said.

Speaking to ITV's Daybreak programme, Mr Cameron said: "I haven't seen the specific case.

"Judges sometimes say things that, you have to read the full context and the rest of it.

"But I'm very clear; burglary is not bravery, burglary is cowardice, burglary is a hateful crime.

"People sometimes say it is not a violent crime but, actually, if you've been burgled, you do feel it was violent, breaking into your home.

"That's why this government is actually changing the law to toughen the rules on self-defence towards burglars."
'Too lenient'

One of Rochford's victims, Mark Clayton, of Lingdale, North Yorkshire, condemned Judge Bowers' comments.

He said: "How can a man who is burgling houses be told it takes courage and be let off? He hasn't learnt anything from his mistakes.

"What is courage? I did 22 years with Her Majesty's forces. I've done a lot of things that took immense courage.
Richard Rochford Richard Rochford will undergo a drug rehabilitation course

"The judge has been too lenient towards this guy's mental state. It's hardly fair.

"I don't know anything about the prison service but I'm sure it's all about rehabilitating people. That's why it's there."

Mr Clayton said Rochford had broken into his house in the early hours, ransacked it and taken laptops, televisions and items of sentimental value.

He added: "I thought Rochford would get some sentence. He has to learn from what he's done. He can't just be let off for the crimes he's committed."

Javed Khan, chief executive of the national charity Victim Support, said burglars should be brought to justice because of the impact of their actions on victims.

"Burglary can be a traumatic experience for victims and leave long lasting scars," he said.

"It is therefore disappointing to see it being taken lightly by anyone - not least someone whose role it is to make sure offenders are brought to justice."

A Ministry of Justice Spokeswoman said: "Sentencing is purely a matter for the courts, as only they have the full facts of a case before them."