AN Englishman's home is his castle? How times have changed!

It seems villains, burglars, trespassers, sneak thieves, etc. can invade property without too much fear or reprisal. The law says you can use reasonable force to restrain or keep out the felon, but what is reasonable? There have been many cases where the victim has been taken to court, fined or jailed for defending his own property.

It would appear the cards are stacked in many cases in favour of the perpetrator.

Laughable? Example: A person whose smallholding was being damaged on a regular basis waited and fired a gun through the letterbox to scare away the trespassers, unfortunately wounding one in the shoulder, resulting in damages for the miscreant of £4,000. Compensation for the victim? - £400.

Others have tried to hold wrongdoers until the police arrived but, after being threatened by a weapon, had to use more force, leading to a complaint by the villain.

I don't think anyone would want to tangle with a housebreaker, but you haven't the time to study your actions in many cases.

Let's put the blame where it belongs, instead of trying to put the blame on the victims.

K SOWERBUTTS (Mr), Southwood Drive, Baxenden.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.