[Campion]

If he had shot them, in his house and claimed that they had surprised him, he would probably of got away with it.

"Probably" is the word I have trouble with.

If you don't have the right to defend yourself in your own house against an intruder, your other rights aren't worth very much.

Where I live, the law is that you have the right to use deadly force to defend yourself or an innocent victim against an attacker who intends death or great bodily harm. The law further presumes that an intruder inside your house intends death or great bodily harm, no matter what he does.

[tonycavanagh]

I said probably as I am not a lawyer, but this will explain the law in Britain http://cps.gov.uk/legal/section5/chapter_d.html.

A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances for the purposes of:

self-defence; or

defence of another; or

defence of property; or

prevention of crime; or

lawful arrest.

In assessing the reasonableness of the force used, prosecutors should ask two questions:

was the use of force justified in the circumstances, i.e. was there a need for any force at all? and

was the force used excessive in the circumstances? .

Hope the link helps