Speaking at the Conservative party conference yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron has promised homeowners greater rights to defend their property if burgled.
Remembering his own experiences of being burgled, Mr Cameron described burglary as “a violent crime” and said that it was right to allow victims to use violence themselves if protecting their person or their property.
At the conference, new Justice Secretary Chris Grayling outlined plans for homeowners, such as allowing them to use ‘disproportionate’ levels of violence if burgled, and also set out plans for a radical overhaul of community sentences after criticism that previous sentences amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist.
Mr Grayling promised that the courts will be required to include a punitive element in every community order and will have a new power to impose location monitoring as part of an order.
At the moment, homeowners are only allowed to use ‘reasonable force’ to protect themselves if they surprise a burglar in their home and can even be arrested or charged if they use violence to drive an intruder away.
Campaigners have been calling for changes to the law since Norfolk farmer Tony Martin was jailed for shooting a burglar dead in 1999 and the campaign gained momentum after financier John Monckton was stabbed to death by burglars he tried to stop ransacking his home in 2004.
While in further planned changes to the law, Home Secretary Theresa May says that she will clamp down on anti-social behaviour and will bring in a raft of punishments for those who commit such crimes, such as the payment of compensation, repair of damage and cleaning up public spaces.
Mrs May has said that she wants to give victims of crime ‘transparency’ and give them a say in what happens to the criminals. Called the ‘community remedy’, the plans outlined yesterday are aimed at low-level crimes, such as criminal damage, which are currently usually dealt with by a caution.