One in 3 would ‘take on’ a burglar

ONE-third of householders would confront a burglar in their home or physically try to restrain them, according to a new survey.

While 73 respondents said they would shoot or kill an intruder if they found one in their property, hundreds of respondents said they would use reasonable force, including utilising hurleys, golf clubs and baseball bats, to protect themselves, their family and property.

The poll of 13,000 people carried out by AA Home Insurance found the “have-a -go” mentality was particularly strong in certain counties.

In Carlow more than 29% of respondents said they would confront an intruder and order them to leave their house, with more than 20% of respondents in counties Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Offaly, Sligo, Waterford and Westmeath saying they would do the same.

As for the even more direct response of attempting to restrain an intruder until gardaí arrive, 19.6% of respondents in Cavan said they would take such a course of action, with 19.5% of those in Mayo saying likewise. In Dublin, which had the largest cohort of respondents at more than 4,700 people, just 10.7% said they would restrain a burglar.

Overall, more people would simply hide and try and phone the gardaí. Based on the total response to the survey from 13,106 people, 37.9% would play it safe if they heard a burglar in the home, while 31.7% would yell and hope to scare the intruder out of the property before they would call the gardaí.

Some 18.8% would confront the intruder and ask them to leave while 12.5% would attempt to restrain the burglar — a combined total of 31.3%.

Those living in rural areas were less likely to confront a burglar, as were women: just 2.3% of women surveyed said they would attempt to hold down a intruder as opposed to19.8% of men.

Despite this, AA Home Insurance Director of Policy Conor Faughnan said the have-a-go mentality was not the best option should anyone hear a burglar in their home. “Finding a burglar in the house is a very rare event in reality but is the stuff of nightmares for us all,” Mr Faughnan said.

“It is hard for anyone to know how they would react but the best advice is not to panic and to think firstly about the safety of your family. It is natural to be angry — fighting mad in fact.

“But at the end of the day your family’s safety is more important than your possessions or your pride. The best advice is not to confront them, but to secure your family within the house and call the gardaí. In a circumstance like this they will respond immediately.”