My next door neighbour works in a police call center, and a few nights ago, she was contacted by the guys who run the CCTV cameras in manchester - a teenager was on the floor (outside the printworks, for those living in mancester), being kicked around by two other young men. He was curled into a foetal ball and was taking some serious punishment from these guys. My neighbour immediately sent two police officers to the area.
When they arrived, they found a guy on the floor with blood everywhere. Turns out his ribs were halfway into his lungs, his skull was fractured - he was in a very bad way. (I assume he still is)
After calling an ambulance, the guys from the CCTV told the police that this wasn’t the guy who was being kicked about on the ground. That guy had gotten up and proceeded to smack about his two attackers (apparently he used some kind of martial art) knocking one of them to the ground, whilst the other attacker ran off.
Unfortunatly, the attacker who was knocked to the ground hit his head on the pavement as he fell, and may loose his life. If he dies the person who was attacked will go to jail for at the very least manslaughter, possibly murder (the tape shows him clearly hitting the attacker around the head, which could have caused the skull fracture) in which case my neighbour informs me he will be spending the next twenty years in jail.
The defender is eighteen years old, and was out celebrating his friends birthday. He (I am told) is intelligent, planned to go to university and has never commited any kind of crime before.
I’m not too sure how I feel about this. I don’t know the reasons for the fight, but I do thank that when you’re getting kicked about on the floor by superiour numbers you do at the least have the right to stand up and defend yourself - and to be frank, you’re best defended when it’s your attacker on the ground. I’ve been wondering all weekend if this boy deserves twenty years of jail for ten seconds of unluckiness.
Similarly, a friend of mine was attacked late at night by a mugger, and threw the guy to the floor (my friend does aikido.) The mugger broke his hip on the curb. The only thing that saved my friend from being sent to jail for grevious bodily harm and having to pay compensation, was a knife found nearby that was traced to the attacker - my friend (well, his lawyers) convinced the judge that he was defending himself from a possible stabbing.
Now, I do think that if you are attacked for no reason - as my friend was (no drunken argument or anything of that nature) then I don’t think the attacker should have any reason to complain, nor any rights in the law to demand compensation for the consequences of their assault.
Under British law, it is illegal to carry any form of weapon (blunt, edged or firearm) for the purposes of personal protection.
Although this thread should probably be in great debates as to whether the law has got it right in these two cases, im interesed in seeing if any dopers know of similar cases, where it has been the attackers whom the law has sided with. Thank you.
It reminds me of the stupid carjacker who tried to carjack the olympic judo team’s minivan while they were in it. Don’t beat up on people and they won’t beat up on you! DUH!