New laws on tackling burglars move closer

New laws to protect householders who fight back against burglars looked unstoppable today as the Director of Public Prosecutions joined the bandwagon.

Ken Macdonald said people had a right to feel safe in their own homes - and to lash out if they were frightened by an intruder. And if burglars were stabbed or shot by a terrified victim, then it was their own fault, he declared.

"If people do not feel safe in their homes we are all in a very serious situation," he said.

"You should feel safe everywhere but you really should feel safe in your own home."

He said the Crown Prosecution Service already declined to take action against many people who injured burglars, even if the intruder was not armed.

"There have been cases in which burglars have been stabbed or shot and we have not prosecuted," he said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

"Let us suppose he turns out not to be armed. That does not matter. It is what the householder believes. What could be more frightening than going downstairs and finding some man in a balaclava in your kitchen?

"When people are frightened they behave in ways they would not behave if they were not," he said. "Frankly, it is the burglars' fault."

Mr Macdonald's comments come after Tony Blair performed a U-turn on the issue in the Commons. He astonished MPs by backing Tory calls for the law to be changed or clarified, despite ministers dismissing the campaign two days earlier.

The chief prosecutor, who heads a team of 3,000 state lawyers, said it was wrong to assume homeowners were routinely prosecuted for injuring intruders.

Neither should householders feel they had to "stop and think really hard" before confronting a criminal because "the law does not expect that".

The issue was fanned by the stabbing murder of Chelsea financier John Monckton in his home last week.

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