Ahern set to introduce self defence bill for householders

JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday signalled his intention to include elements of a new draft bill allowing the use of lethal force by householders against intruders into law.

The Minister for Justice made his comments ahead of the launch of areport carrying the recommendation, written by the Law Reform Commission. The report, and the attached Criminal Law (Defences) Bill 2009, was welcomed yesterday by Irish Rural Link, which claimed the recommendations, if made law, would help compensate for perceived deficiencies in the justice system. The recommended law changes were also welcomed by Padraig Nally, the Co Mayo farmer who shot dead 42-year-old John “Frog” Ward in 2004 and who claimed he had acted in self defence. His original conviction for manslaughter was conviction was overturned on a re-trial. “Your home is your castle and you should be allowed to defend it... people are fed up now with being raided and robbed and beat up in their own homes,” he told RTÉ’s News At One.

Irish Rural Link chief executive Seamus Boland said: “There is a perception that the deep-rooted psychological effects home robberies have on those affected are not considered by the justice system and this must also be addressed... Any such change would be welcomed by rural communities and would counter a growing sense of helplessness in rural areas. It would provide certainty on the rights of homeowners to defend their property.” One of those behind the new LRC report, Prof Finbarr McAuley of UCD, has denied that it gives people carte blanche to shoot anyone who trespasses onto private property, and stressed that three key criteria will have to be met: that the threat was imminent, and the use of force was necessary and proportionate. The bill also dispenses with the notion someone faced with an intruder should have to retreat.