Gareth Johnson defends rights of victims of burglary to protect their own homes

Gareth Johnson, MP for Dartford, has today welcomed a judge’s decision to give a tough sentence to two burglars in Leicestershire who were shot at by the owner of the house they had entered.

Judge Michael Pert QC told Joshua O’Gorman and Daniel Mansell that they should not expect leniency simply because they had been wounded, saying “If you burgle a house in the country where the householder owns a legally-held shotgun, that is the chance you take. You cannot come to court and ask for a lighter sentence because of it”.

The victims of the burglary, Andy and Tracy Ferrie, were also arrested and questioned on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm, but were later released.

Gareth commented,

“In recent years we have seen too many instances of victims of crime coming under fire for defending themselves or their property and I think it is important that the balance is redressed. I welcome the judge’s decision and think it sends out the right message: these two individuals entered a private property with full intention of committing burglary. We must remember that the real victims are the homeowners, not the burglars.”

Gareth added,

“Burglary rates in Kent fell by 5% last year and whilst this is good news for our residents, I believe it would be even lower if we made it clearer for homeowners what rights they have to defend their property. Provided that grossly disproportionate force is not used then a homeowner should be able to use whatever force they like to stop someone burgling their home. We need burglars to feel afraid and not homeowners.”