Millionaire who fought off a knife-wielding burglar is jailed (while the intruder is let off)

[oneshooter]

A millionaire businessman who fought back against a knife-wielding burglar was jailed for two-and-a-half years yesterday. But his attacker has been spared prison.
Munir Hussain, 53, and his family were tied up and told to lie on the floor by career criminal Waled Salem, who burst into his home with two other masked men.

Mr Hussain escaped and attacked Salem with a metal pole and a cricket bat. But yesterday it was the businessman who was starting a prison sentence for his 'very violent revenge'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1235782/Millionaire-Munir-Hussain-fought-knife-wielding-burglar-jailed-intruder-let-off.html

Is this what the anti-RKBA folks want for the USA?

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

1. Many here would love a law like this. Idiots.

[sharesunited]

2. Guns and ammo are not a part of this story.

[depakid]

3. Pathetic attempt at putting up a strawman

But then, irrational fear and outrage addiction is a driving force in the states.

[rd_kent]

17. So, you have been getting help then? irrational fear and outrage addiction are your MO.

I am glad you reconoze your problem, though. Thats the first step.

[Bolo Boffin]

4. They had already subdued the burglar and then took to beating him with a bat and other things.

Until the man had brain damage.

Yes, they needed to go to prison for this. You have the right to defend your home, but not to mete out your own punishment. That's what the law is for.

[Euromutt]

29. Well, there's the problem with this story

Yes, theoretically that is what the law is for. But consider this: Salem (the burglar who got beaten) had fifty prior convictions and was supposedly under a "supervision order" at the time of the incident. In a very real sense, this incident was able to occur because the law failed to do "what the law is for."

There is a widespread, and not unjustified, perception in the UK that the criminal justice system routinely fails to promote public safety by deterring, rehabilitating or (failing that) at least putting offenders where they cannot prey on the general public. Salem and his companions threatened to murder the entire Hussain family, and I can hardly blame Mr. Hussain for taking that threat seriously. I also can't blame Mr. Hussain if he didn't trust the criminal justice system of England & Wales to prevent Salem from being able to make good on his threat at a later date (especially with the added hindsight that Salem already had an extensive criminal record and was nevertheless at large).

So I'm speculating that it was Mr. Hussain's intent to administer a beating with sufficient deterrent effect to keep Salem away in future. Perhaps if the law had done its job properly in the first place, Mr. Hussain might not have felt the need to do so. Of course, if the law had done its job properly, Salem and his mates would not have been in a position to break into Mr. Hussain's house and threaten to murder him and his family.

[tularetom]

5. WTF does this story have to do with guns anyway?

I'm a big supporter of RKBA.

But this guy attacked the crook with a fucking CRICKET BAT.

Don't get excited. I also support the right to keep and bear bats.

[Historic NY]

11. the guy brought a knife to a cricket match.

[PavePusher]

6. I'm all for the concept of...

if a criminal enters your personal space, you get to put his head on a spike on your front gate.

Pour encourager les autres....

[lepus]

13. I hope your serious,,,

I have espoused exactly that viewpoint. A few skulls along the fence line would serve as a good warning to kids heading towards a life of crime what the end result might be, and serve to warn other criminals off towards softer targets.

[PavePusher]

18. I am definitely serious.

To bad it won't happen until a severe breakdown of society occurs... by which time it will, of course, be to late to save that society.

[lepus]

33. seems that the castle laws popping up in so many states

are a recognition of that. Societal breakdown is happening at a steady rate. The harshness that a homeowner can deal with someone breaking into his home being codified shows that the skull's on pikes is likely not to far into the future.

[JonQ]

21. Seems to me all your neighbors

should compensate you (voluntarily, take up a collection or something) in that event for making their homes that much safer.

[PavePusher]

22. Hee-hee, has someone been reading their Heinlein?

Yes, I'm a fan...

Careful with that, someone will soon be around to pillory we neo-barbarians.

[JonQ]

23. He had some good ideas

[midnight]

7. How in the world can defending your family from an intruder in your home land you in prison?

Texas made a huge leap last week when they elected Anise Parker, but this is a step backwards...

[mrbarber]

8. What a travesty of justice.

[paulsby]

9. when i read the title, i just KNEW it would be the UK

where this happened.

all the american exceptionalists love to prattle about how we suck and europe is so enlightened.

lol

[SteveM]

16. Yep. Rang like Salem's bell (nt)

[Tejas]

34. I was betting Australia - nt

[ManiacJoe]

10. No way Hussain can claim self defense.

From the article:

Mr Hussain ... and Tokeer chased the gang and brought Salem to the ground in a front garden.

Reading Crown Court heard how Mr Hussain and his brother then beat Salem while he lay on the ground, using a cricket bat, a pole and a hockey stick - leaving him with a fractured skull and brain damage following the 'sustained' attack.

[Tejas]

35. Not in merry ol England, but in Texas

the DA probably wouldn't even accept the case.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. Yes. Plus I want us all force-converted to Islam! And made to play CRICKET!

Than you for a most excellent and thoughtful post.

"Reading Crown Court heard how Mr Hussain and his brother then beat Salem while he lay on the ground, using a cricket bat, a pole and a hockey stick - leaving him with a fractured skull and brain damage following the 'sustained' attack."

[benEzra]

14. This was bad all around.

The homeowner would have been prosecuted in the United States as well, and I see the original attacker didn't get jail because he has brain damage and wasn't able to enter a plea, so he seems to be rather incapacitated (which may well be for life). On the other hand, he did threaten to kill an entire family (and I wonder if their victims being Muslim had anything to do with the selection process), so while I don't agree with the homeowner's after-the-fact attack, he certainly isn't an innocent victim either. Bad all around.

[eqfan592]

15. Agreed. (nt)

[Ready4Change]

24. Sorry.

Don't start trouble, won't be trouble.

In my opinion the person who starts trouble is fully responsible for the resulting escalation as well. The robber would be perfectly safe, healthy, and 'unassaulted' today if he had simply not robbed a house and threatened the lives of an entire family. His condition is a direct result of his choice that day, and I refuse to feel any pity for him, nor remorse for his condition.

Technically, I can see the problem with the extended battery in the garden. But that doesn't mean I support the home owners sentence. Given my druthers I'd call it an justifiable attempted homicide, and send him back home to his living and breathing wife and family.

[Euromutt]

25. There's the role of the criminal justice system to consider as well

The London Times reports (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6956044.ece) that Walid Salem had 50 prior convictions, and at the time of the incident, he was under a "supervision order" (whatever that means). It's not a huge stretch to surmise his mates had extensive criminal records as well. Given the fact that the guy was free to break into people's houses and threaten to murder the occupants, it becomes very hard for me to take something like this seriously:

The judge told them: “If persons were permitted to take the law into their own hands and inflict their own instant and violent punishment on an apprehended offender rather than letting justice take its course, then the rule of law and our system of criminal justice, which are the hallmarks of a civilised society, would collapse.”

I think that a much greater threat to the rule of law is the perception on the part of the citizenry that the criminal justice system is unwilling to take effective action to stop habitual criminals like Salem, but that when an otherwise law-abiding citizen like Mr. Hussain defends himself against such a individual, that same criminal justice system is perfectly willing him to punish him with more severity than it's ever imposed on the assailant. This incident came about in no small part due to a failure on the part of the criminal justice system of England & Wales to perform the job it's supposed to, and instead of owning up to that failure, it's in effect blaming Messrs Hussain for it.

[slackmaster]

19. Only in the UK

I'll allow that Hussain carried his defense too far, but he shouldn't be jailed for it, and the real criminals shouldn't be set free.

[JonQ]

20. Just by reading the title I knew this occured in the UK

what a screwed up set of priorities they have.

[iverglas]

26. It's the Daily Mail!!!

Got bored with Moonie publications?

Didn't bother reading the entire article? Or just didn't want to admit it?

Mr Hussain made a break for freedom by throwing a coffee table at his attackers. He and Tokeer chased the gang and brought Salem to the ground in a front garden.

Reading Crown Court heard how Mr Hussain and his brother then beat Salem while he lay on the ground, using a cricket bat, a pole and a hockey stick - leaving him with a fractured skull and brain damage following the 'sustained' attack.

Now let's hear y'all call that self-defence.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PavePusher]

28. Thank you! That's the nicest thing you've said...

(about us) all day!

Happy Hollidays!

[iverglas]

31. ah, but some delicate shoots

hahaha

didn't like it ...

[logjon]

30. perhaps

one day we will all be as content as you to be victims. perhaps not. i'm going to go ahead and hope for the latter though.

[iverglas]

32. perhaps

one day some of you will grow a conscience and a brain. I speak of no one in particular, of course.