Homeowner arrested after the burglar he confronted falls 30ft

[warpedskydiver 0]

Homeowner arrested after the burglar he confronted falls 30ft

by JAYA NARAIN
21:06pm on 8th August 2007

A homeowner was arrested after a burglar plunged from the balcony of his top-floor flat.

The intruder suffered head injuries and is fighting for his life after falling around 30ft on to a concrete path.

Later police arrested the owner and are investigating whether the intruder was pushed.

The incident happened early on Monday when Patrick Walsh, 56, awoke to find the 43-year-old man rifling through his flat.

They argued and the confrontation moved towards the rear window of the flat.

It is believed the intruder then smashed the window and clambered out on to a narrow ledge and fell to the ground.

Mr Walsh phoned police and at around 6.30am officers found the man on the ground outside the smart Victorian apartment block in Chorlton-cum-Hardy,

He was taken to hospital with serious head injuries.

Officers arrested Mr Walsh on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and are trying to establish whether the intruder was forced out of the window.

The arrest is expected to fuel arguments about the rights of householders to defend themselves against burglars.

The issue has been high on the law and order agenda since farmer Tony Martin was jailed for shooting dead a burglar in 1999.

Following the Martin affair the Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers said any householder can use reasonable force to protect themselves or others, or to carry out an arrest or to prevent crime.

Yesterday Mr Walsh, who was given bail pending further inquiries, refused to speak about the incident.

But his solicitor Victor Wozny said: "My client is not at liberty to say anything because he is under police bail.

"However we appreciate that the public view might be that this is a man arrested in his own home defending his own property."

A neighbour said: "Police arrived in what seemed to be minutes and were there for the whole day.

"It's shocking to find out what has happened but people shouldn't break into other people's houses."

Another resident said: "I presume we will have to respect the burglar's rights while his victim has the nightmare of court hanging over his head. It all seems so unfair."

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said they had been called following reports that an intruder had fallen from a top-floor flat.

A 56-year-old man had woken up to find a man in his flat.

"Following an exchange of words, the alleged burglar was found unconscious on the pavement outside the flat.

"It is believed that he had fallen from the fourth-floor window."

He said the man is 43 and lives locally and inquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Mr Walsh was later released on bail until November. If charged and convicted he could face a life sentence.


Another resident said: "I presume we will have to respect the burglar's rights while his victim has the nightmare of court hanging over his head. It all seems so unfair."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=474025&in_page_id=1770

[headoverheels 291]

Too bad it wasn't six floors.

[Richards 0]

The idea that the police would even put forth a serious effort into investigating this baffles me. Demonstrating indifference to this might send a message to other criminals that invading a persons home is never acceptable, and that the authorities care little about what consequences befall you if you do. This might make some of these clowns think twice before doing such a thing. I realise that you cannot stop crime but penetrating the sanctuary of a persons home (last refuge) crosses the line. If the guy was in fact pushed, the homeowner was probably terrified and sent the intruder out the nearest exit which in this case was the window. Why make an issue of this. If the intruder dies, his passing will be of no consequence to society.

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[Scoop 0]

You are arrested so an investigation can be made. He can be interviewed etc.

You bring up a few good points. ie fear etc, which will be for a jury to decide (if it gets that far).

I personally doubt he will be prosecuted for anything.

[BIGUN 1,065]

He didn't fall. I woke up and found a guy burglarizing my flat, determined that my right to privacy & safety outweighed his right to steal and I threw him out the window. What's the problem?

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[NCclimber 0]

Quote

You are arrested so an investigation can be made. He can be interviewed etc.

Interesting legal system you got over there.

[normiss 622]

"I saw him reach for what I thought was a weapon and was in fear of my life when I pushed him away from me. He lost his balance and fell. I thought he was going to kill me!"

[Misternatural 0]

Well, the cops do have a responsibility to make sure that the circumstances are correct, i.e. what if the "intruder" was actually someone the homeowner knew and tried to kill etc. Otherwise people could claim that all of their enemies were "burglars"

prolly be released without charges when the story checks out.

From another page of Bizzaro World:
This week locally a store clerk was held up with a shotgun, The crook laid the gun on the counter and was grabbing the money when the clerk grabbed the gun and turned it on him. the crook ran out but went BACK into the store for his gun.

Later the clerk said that he did not shoot him because he was not sure that the cameras would catch the evidence to justify the act.

now that was one cool headed clerk! but WTF?

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415

[NewGuy2005 51]

And you people wonder why John Rich marvels at the British legal/political system??

[Zipp0 1]

If this happened in my house, they'd find that he apparently fell on a bullet!

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[Lindsey 0]

In the immortal words of Willie Nelson, "You can't blame a man for killin' a woman who's trying to steal his horse."

Heh...
linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[BillyVance 34]

I would shake the homeowner's hand and say "good job! You da man!" and offer a beer.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[JohnRich 4]

What is the appropriate protocol for dealing with an burglar in your home, in England?

Should you invite him into the kitchen for some tea and crumpets, while you gather your valuables for him? Then shake his hand as he departs, and thank him for doing a jolly-good job?

[DZJ 0]

Having never been burgled (or personally experienced any other sort of crime, for that matter - who'd have thought it! In crime-ridden Britain as well!) I wouldn't know....but apparently the American method for dealing with violent crime is to quietly ignore it while trawling for crime stories from provincial England....

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

apparently the American method for dealing with violent crime is to quietly ignore it while trawling for crime stories from provincial England....

I didn't start this story.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Geez gimme a friggin break here.


Don't make me send sharks with lasers mounted on their heads to your house

[Richards 0]

Quote

Quote

You are arrested so an investigation can be made. He can be interviewed etc.
You bring up a few good points. ie fear etc, which will be for a jury to decide (if it gets that far).
I personally doubt he will be prosecuted for anything.

Hopefully you are right. It's not that I advocate rampant vigilanteism, but I do beleive there should be certain lines that should never be crossed. How can we truly feel safe if even after someone has breached the sanctuary of our own home, we still owe this person a standard of care that balances his rights against ours. Once you enter a persons home, that persons rights should trump yours. If he makes it out alive and you still chase him that is different, but so long as an intruder is within the perimeter of my sanctuary I should basically own his life so long as he remains within.

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Quote

If this happened in my house, they'd find that he apparently fell on a bullet!

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[Lastchance 0]

There is something seriously wrong in this world when people are more worried about the rights of the criminal than the victim. In my opinion it is to bad the son-of-a-bitch didn't die when he hit the ground. I have no fucking compassion whatsoever for theives. Go get a fucking real job and maybe you wouldn't rip off other people.

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Unfortunately now lawyers and their criminal clients have a new tool in their box of tricks.

Now there are lawsuits being brought by criminals who were harmed by the owners or occupants of the premises they invaded.

They latest claim is that the occupant was "lying in wait" to commit violence upon them.

In one case a lady was alone at home and when she heard breaking glass, she armed herself with her pistol.

When the perp opened the door of her bedroom she shot him.

He claimed she did not call out that she was in there, armed with a gun, therefore she meant to cause him harm, not disuade him from stealing.

BTW there is not duty to greet your home invader, nor tell them you are armed, and will shoot if you feel threatened.

Shoot first, call 911, then call your lawyer.

Say nothing to the police, except that you feared for you life.

[tbrown 26]

Quote

He didn't fall. I woke up and found a guy burglarizing my flat, determined that my right to privacy & safety outweighed his right to steal and I threw him out the window. What's the problem?

We used to routinely throw junkies down the stairs in an apartment building I lived in. Our street was the frontline between the stable side (artists, musicians, people with steady jobs) and the shitty side (junkies and dealers) of the neighborhood. In those days, everybody and their mother smoked pot. But we had to fight to hold the line, because if you gave the junkies an inch, they'd take a mile. So there was no mercy or compassion about it, down the stairs they went and we told them if they came back we'd kill them. As a result, none of our apartments were actually broken into and our street held the line for the rest of the neighborhood. Plus the cops didn't make a fuss about it. None of those scum would've called the cops anyway, they were all holding dope and would've gone to jail and had to go cold turkey and they knew it.

These cops sound like real assholes, maybe one of them should fall out the window......

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[shropshire 0]

If she had done the job properly... he'd never get chance to bitch about it.. She should go to a range and take lessons.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Richards 0]

Quote

We used to routinely throw junkies down the stairs in an apartment building I lived in.

But we had to fight to hold the line, because if you gave the junkies an inch, they'd take a mile. So there was no mercy or compassion about it, down the stairs they went and we told them if they came back we'd kill them.

I wish you lived in my old neighborhood. It could have used someone like you

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[ryoder 1,393]

Happy ending:

http://www.24dash.com/communities/25941.htm

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[piper17 1]

Here in Connecticut we just had a home invasion by two perps with long histories of buglary. They were out of jail on parole, broke into the home of a doctor and his family. They killed the doctor's wife and two daughters 17 and 11 yrs old) and had beaten the doctor with a baseball bat into unconsciousness.

When the police arrived at the scene following a tip from a bank teller (the buglars had earlier force the wife to go to a bank and withdraw a large some of money), their SOP was to establish a perimeter, securing the area, and wait for negotiators. While the police were doing this, the burglars killed the three women. Can't fault the police for following SOP but it does show that you need to be able to defend yourself. Too often the police just clean up the aftermath, write reports, and look for the perps after the good citizens have been victimized.

Now, even the left-wing media columnists in Connecticut are saying that maybe there is something to owning a firearm for self-defense. Duh!

"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling