UK rejects calls for lethal force against burglars

Britain has rejected calls to change the law to allow householders to use extreme force against intruders although the government insists it backs the public's right to use "reasonable" self-defence. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said on Wednesday a review had concluded existing legislation was "sound" but admitted people needed to be told what their rights were. Calls for action gathered pace at the end of last year after a series of high-profile burglaries including the murder of financier John Monckton who was stabbed to death by intruders at his plush London home in November.
A review of the law was ordered by Prime Minister Tony Blair shortly afterwards.
"Concerns have been raised about the ability of householders to use reasonable force to defend themselves, their families, their homes and their property," said Clarke, who stressed the law remained on the side of the victim.
"I have concluded that the current law is sound but needs to be better explained to all concerned, especially to householders."
Householders' rights have been a hot topic in Britain since farmer Tony Martin shot dead a teenage burglar at his remote farm in 1999.
Martin was later jailed for manslaughter despite receiving wide public support.
The issue hit the headlines again last year with the murder of Monckton, a 49-year-old head of bond dealing at Legal & General Investment Management, a death that stunned London's business community.
Just days earlier rocker Ozzy Osbourne, 55, grappled with a burglar during a raid at his country mansion near the capital.
The reality TV star said he feared suffering the same fate as late Beatle George Harrison who was nearly stabbed to death by an intruder at his mansion in rural England in 1999.
The incidents led to outgoing London police chief Sir John Stevens, the UK's most senior officer, giving his backing for a change to the law.
"My own view is that people should be allowed to use what force is necessary to defend themselves and that they should be allowed to do so without any prosecution," he said in a newspaper interview.
However the Association of Chief Police Officers said it supported the status quo.
"The ACPO believes that a clarification of the law rather than a change will help to reassure the public and improve their confidence in the criminal justice system," ACPO president Chris Fox said, adding people who used "reasonable and appropriate" force against a criminal would get police backing.