Posted on 12/24/2013 6:10:57 AM PST by marktwain
A farmhouse owner who shot a burglar in the leg with a shotgun while trying to protect his £20,000 cannabis crop has been acquitted of unlawful wounding.
Malcolm White, 64, shot Robert Richards during a raid at Stocking Gobbetts, Whitbourne, Herefordshire, in 2011.
Richards, who lost part of his leg, was armed with a crowbar and chisel when he tried to break into the farmhouse.
White admitted growing cannabis and illegal possession of weapons and will be sentenced at a later date.
During the trial at Worcester Crown Court, Simon Phillips QC, prosecuting, described how White had been intent on protecting his cannabis-growing operation and had placed loaded shotguns around his secluded farmhouse.
On 5 October 2011 he was watching the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral western when his front window was smashed in with a sledgehammer, the court heard. Partner inside
The jury was told that White jumped up, grabbed a loaded shotgun and fired three shots.
He later told police he was not aiming at the raider and did not think he had hit him.
White's partner Josephine Merrick was inside the farmhouse at the time.
White called police to report the break-in and Richards and his accomplice Darren Randall left empty-handed.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
illegal possession of weapons
That is where he could come unstuck.
Up to six years if convicted.
It would tell us more, and I think the farmer would be goin' away for a long time.
in a similar incident in Hawaii , a man protecting himself and his marijuana grow was convicted of manslaughter after the MJ thief died . Forensics showed that the thief had been fatally hit by shotgun pellets entering his back and therefore he had to be already past the homeowner and fleeing the scene when shot . The shooter was cultivating licensed medical MJ and the dead man had a criminal history as long as your arm . many in the community think that the shooter did the community a huge favor in eliminating the threat .
The law of course allows self-defence, and has separated the use of an illegal weapon (looking back, its nor clear if the shotgun was illegally held or as one BBC report suggests he had illegal ammo, reading between the lines it would seem the gun was illegally held) from the right to defend oneself.
A person has the right to use any weapon to reasonably defend oneself, if that weapon happens to be illegal, the victim will face that problem later. Self defence is the paramount.
Rifles and shotguns are legal on the UK mainland with a licence. Some pistols as well, although handguns on the mainland were more of less banned in 1997 after Dunblane. England and Wales allows semi-auto pistols up to. 22, Scotland dosent.
NI allows everything, and is the most liberal and gun-heavy part of the UK. It even allows a form of concealed carry. CC is only available in the uk with a permit, and they are only given in rare cases for security or genuine self-protection cases (ie where a person is at threat of being targeted due to work, background).
NI ?
I believe NI is Northern Ireland.
My grandfather’s people.
It is if you have a shotgun certificate, but this guy probably already had a criminal record if he was growing £20,000 worth of cannabis, so he would have found it hard to get one.
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