Pistorius trial

[Topcat]

I have a metal bar along the side of my bed and I am not sure if I would ever use it, nobody would be unless they were confronted with a situation.

However, I would like to think that that intruder x child in the house / metal bar = intruder with a big bump on his head following a good hiding.

[Shoe]

Yes, I'm interested in what other people think they would do if somebody broke into their house.

Someone didn't break into his house though, at a stretch he could have assumed that someone had but he didn't know, in that case the first thing I would do is check my partner was in bed, I would imagine. The first thing I do when a noise wakens me in the night is to check where S is, to see if it was him or something to be concerned about.

[Luna]

I just cannot imagine shooting wildly through a door at someone you don't know is trying to intrude/attack you. Even in a panic you would call out surely?

[smalex]

The bathroom was a dead end too, wasn't it? So even if it was an intruder, he had them cornered.

[Tabitha]

I would not call out for my significant other or anyone else; instead I would head straight for a deadly weapon and fire blindly.

That seems fair.

As others have said, I'd assume a noise in the night was my husband or a cat as that's my reality. If I lived somewhere folk live in terror of intruders then I might well think of that first. I'm pretty sure I'd still check where J was before panicking / acting though. And even if I did feel sure it was an intruder I'm not sure I've got it in me to fire a gun at them.

[smalex]

On the other hand, I know there was some talk of him being a bit reckless, and having a bit of a temper, but was there any evidence that he had an extremely violent streak and could be capable of murdering his girlfriend in a rage? That just seems bizarre too.

[Zoomer]

Yes, I'm interested in what other people think they would do if somebody broke into their house.

Someone didn't break into his house though, at a stretch he could have assumed that someone had but he didn't know, in that case the first thing I would do is check my partner was in bed, I would imagine. The first thing I do when a noise wakens me in the night is to check where S is, to see if it was him or something to be concerned about.

Yeah, I know, but in general I meant, in response to the "it's not cricket to murder someone who breaks into your house" line.

Bastian, when our intruders broke in, MrZ went out to confront them (not in his nighty) and after some threats and intimidation, they ran off. I would have felt a fool afterwards if I had jumped out a window (the only escape route available), breaking all my bones because of two little teenage scrotes. On the other hand, we would have felt equally as foolish (indulge me in this massive understatement) if we had blasted them to death and they turned out to be just two teenage scrotes armed only with cutters.

I am only musing, generally really. However, I do think that if you break into someone's house whilst armed and whilst they're there, that that should be taken as assault, and any subsequent action on the part of the house-owner should be read as them acting in self-defense.

[Faddy]

Gut feeling. I don't think I believe his story but it'll be interesting how the trial pans out. You'd think he'd have stopped after shooting her the first time and think 'oh shit, it's my girlfriend' but to carry on 3 more times makes it look a bit suss - well, a lot suss. Something else was going on - either a row gone horribly wrong or he was totally paranoid and off his head on drugs or something. It just strikes me as really odd.

[Starry]

I can't imagine it either, but then I haven't lived there. In a similar way, I don't get how my friend's boyfriend decided that the best way to confront an (unarmed) intruder trying to climb through his kitchen window (in the US) was to point one of his loaded handguns at him. Culture of fear+gun culture.

Also, he is mental.

[Leap]

This is going to sound exactly what it is, i.e. wild extrapolation with no evidence but I wonder if the adrenaline plus the closest he'd potentially been to experiencing this - movies/friends' horror stories - could contribute to multiple shots being fired. Like what if I only wounded him and he starts shooting back, I better make sure he's good and dead?

I think I actually come down on the guilty side in the end, and certainly don't generally think movies = more violence, but I know just watching something scary makes me oddly murderous. In the situation maybe you'd just go for it.

If you were alone, that is. Or took a moment to exchange a terrified did-you-just-hear-that glance with your girlfriend, only to realise it turns out it was just her.

[nick]

the first thing I would do is check my partner was in bed, I would imagine. The first thing I do when a noise wakens me in the night is to check where S is, to see if it was him or something to be concerned about.

Yes, exactly this. If you hear a noise in the night you'd surely check where your partner was, maybe just ask them "Did you hear that?".
I can't imagine anyone just getting out of bed, getting their gun and blasting away without knowing who or what you are shooting at, especially as Pistorious had been trained in the use of firearms.

[Lily]

I can't imagine it either, but then I haven't lived there. In a similar way, I don't get how my friend's boyfriend decided that the best way to confront an (unarmed) intruder trying to climb through his kitchen window (in the US) was to point one of his loaded handguns at him. Culture of fear+gun culture.

Were you there?! :bob: What happened, did the intruder sod off? I don't suppose he knew he was unarmed at the time. America scares the crap out of me. South Africa doesn't sound much better.

[Starry]

I can't imagine it either, but then I haven't lived there. In a similar way, I don't get how my friend's boyfriend decided that the best way to confront an (unarmed) intruder trying to climb through his kitchen window (in the US) was to point one of his loaded handguns at him. Culture of fear+gun culture.

Were you there?! :bob: What happened, did the intruder sod off? I don't suppose he knew he was unarmed at the time. America scares the crap out of me. South Africa doesn't sound much better.

Christ no, I try to avoid being within 10 miles of that man as it is. He is quite open about his gun collection though, and according to him the only reason the man left was because he had a gun pointed at him. Personally, I think turning on the kitchen light would have made him leave too, but apparently his first thought on hearing the noise was to grab a gun.

then you see the news and TV shows there, and it's not such a stretch to see why some people believe that a gun is the only way to protect yourself. I still wouldn't do it mind you, guns make my skin crawl, but if you're of a certain mind set, it all feeds into it.

[H1ppychick]

I totally get what Daire's been saying. We in the UK have no concept of the pervasive culture of fear which prevails in South Africa.

Compound that with the fact that if you are a vulnerable individual, who would dread that you would come off even worse than an able-bodied, non-famous person in a home invasion scenario, I can easily envisage the situation where you'd fire several rounds, movie style, in a panic, at a perceived threat.

The difficult thing the defence team needs to get across is why he didn't check where his girlfriend was. This is the critical thing which would sway opinion as to whether it was intentional murder of his girlfriend, or the South African 'self-defence'-type murder which apparently you get a free pass on (sarcasm intended).

I also agree that the Paddy Power thing is shameful, I think there's petitions underway on Change.org about it.

[Topcat]

Change.org.

Running out of causes to be outraged about since around 2009.

[Starry]

I think PP operate on the same principle as Ry.anair used to: no publicity is bad publicity.

[Kenickie]

I wouldn't react to an intruder by shooting them through my bathroom door, but just because it's something that's totally far removed from the way I'd act doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I don't think he meant to kill is girlfriend, and therefore I think prison would be pointless as living with it would be horrific enough. I'd let him off with a lifetime gun ownership ban.

[Dáire]

Gut feeling. I don't think I believe his story but it'll be interesting how the trial pans out. You'd think he'd have stopped after shooting her the first time and think 'oh shit, it's my girlfriend' but to carry on 3 more times makes it look a bit suss - well, a lot suss.

He shot through the door four times, then moved on to realisation. He didn't shoot once, realise, then carry on (that's a bit more like 'very obvious murder'.)

In a similar way, I don't get how my friend's boyfriend decided that the best way to confront an (unarmed) intruder trying to climb through his kitchen window (in the US) was to point one of his loaded handguns at him.

See, now I think that's a stellar idea. Surely it made the invader think twice and leave the premises? Perhaps consider not doing it again? I'm trying to get into the mindset here. Why shouldn't the invader be harmed if you can do it?

Just this week the papers ran a story of a mum and her 16 year old daughter in Sussex, both severely beaten in the face with sledgehammers by two men who broke in. They simply smashed down the door and there doesn't seem to be a motive. No amount of yelling or switching on lights put them off - it was 9pm, they knew people would be home. There's not a sob story those men could concoct that would make me think they didn't deserve a shotgun blast to the face.

[smalex]

What convinces you Ken?

[Kenickie]

I can't