Your Rights to defend your property.

Can You Defend Yourself Against an Intruder?

Few people facing an intruder in their home will have time to consider the precise wording of the law. The natural response may be to protect yourself, your family and your Property.

In England and Wales, you are entitled to use force in self-defence or to protect another person. You do not have to wait until you have been attacked, but the circumstances must justify the force used as you honestly believed them to be at the time.

What Should You Do First?

Call the police as soon as it is safe to do so. If you can move yourself and your family to a secure place without confronting the intruder, that will usually be the safest option.

Do not place yourself at unnecessary risk merely to protect possessions. Property can be replaced; lives cannot.

What Is Reasonable Force?

There is no exact definition covering every situation. What is reasonable will depend on matters such as:

• What you honestly believed the intruder intended to do
• Whether you believed that you or another person faced immediate danger
• Whether the intruder appeared to be armed
• The number and behaviour of the intruders
• The speed at which events unfolded
• The difference in size, strength or vulnerability between those involved
• Whether the threat continued when force was used

The law recognises that a person acting in fear and under extreme pressure cannot be expected to calculate the exact amount of force required.

The Special Rule for Householders

A special rule applies where a householder uses force against a trespasser inside a dwelling and genuinely believes that the force is necessary for self-defence or the defence of another person.

In these cases, force is not automatically unlawful merely because it is later considered disproportionate. However, grossly disproportionate force cannot be regarded as reasonable.

The court must still consider whether the force was reasonable overall, taking account of the circumstances as the householder honestly believed them to be.

Do You Have to Wait to Be Attacked?

No. You may act first where you honestly believe that an attack is imminent.

For example, you may be entitled to push, restrain or strike an intruder who advances towards you in a threatening manner. You do not have to wait to be injured before protecting yourself or another person.

However, fear or suspicion alone will not justify unlimited force. The response must still relate to the danger you believed you faced.

Can You Use an Object as a Weapon?

You may use an object that is available to defend yourself if you honestly believe it is necessary. The fact that an object caused serious or fatal injury does not automatically mean that the force was unlawful.

The police and courts will examine why the object was used, the threat presented by the intruder and whether you continued using force after the danger had passed.

Keeping or preparing a weapon specifically to attack an anticipated intruder may create a very different legal position and could itself result in criminal allegations.

What If the Intruder Is Injured or Killed?

A serious injury or death will lead to a detailed police investigation. Still, the outcome alone does not determine whether an offence has been committed.

A householder who honestly believed that immediate action was required may still have acted lawfully, even where the consequences were severe.

However, repeatedly attacking an intruder who has been restrained, incapacitated or is no longer a threat may be treated as revenge rather than self-defence.

What If the Intruder Runs Away?

The legal position can change when an intruder begins to flee. If the immediate threat to you or your family has ended, continuing to attack the person may no longer be self-defence.

Reasonable force may sometimes be used to prevent a suspected offender from escaping or to make a lawful citizen's arrest. For example, it may be lawful to tackle an intruder to the ground in appropriate circumstances.

Chasing an intruder can nevertheless be dangerous and may cause the situation to escalate. You should consider your own safety, call the police and provide a description, direction of travel and any vehicle details.

Protecting Property

Reasonable force may be used to prevent crime and protect Property. Still, greater force is generally easier to justify when someone reasonably believes that a person is in danger.

Using serious violence solely to prevent the loss of a relatively minor item may be difficult to justify, particularly where the intruder is already leaving and poses no continuing threat.

Can You Set a Trap for an Intruder?

Setting traps or deliberately creating devices intended to injure trespassers is likely to be unlawful. It may endanger innocent visitors, emergency workers or other members of the household.

The special protection for householders concerns decisions made while confronting an intruder. It does not provide permission to plan punishment.

What Will the Police Do?

The police must investigate where an intruder has been seriously injured or killed. This may include:

• Taking statements from the householder and witnesses
• Examining the scene
• Reviewing CCTV, doorbell or telephone recordings
• Obtaining medical and forensic evidence
• Establishing whether the threat was continuing when force was used

An investigation or arrest does not mean that the householder will be prosecuted. The police and Crown Prosecution Service must consider all the evidence and whether the legal test for prosecution is met.

What Should You Do After an Incident?

Contact the emergency services and request medical assistance for anyone who is injured. Do not disturb the scene unnecessarily or dispose of anything that may be evidence.

Give the police an accurate account, but remember that a serious incident may result in an interview under caution. You are entitled to free and independent legal advice at a police station. You should ask for a solicitor before answering detailed questions if you are being treated as a suspect.

The Law Does Not Require Perfect Judgment

The law recognises that householders may be frightened, confused and forced to make decisions within seconds.

You are not expected to measure force with precision. However, the right to defend yourself is not a right to punish an intruder after the danger has ended.

The central questions will usually be what you honestly believed was happening, whether you believed force was necessary and whether your response was reasonable in those circumstances.

Getting Legal Advice

A criminal law solicitor should be contacted immediately if you are arrested, interviewed under caution or investigated after using force against an intruder.

A solicitor can advise on self-defence, reasonable force, householder cases, citizen's arrest and the evidence that may be relevant to the investigation.

Disclaimer

Solicitors.com is not a firm of solicitors and does not provide legal advice. This article provides general information about the law in England and Wales. Different rules may apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the outcome of any case will depend on its particular facts.

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