Common Sense Prevails
February 27th, 2008I see that Mr. Singh, the gentleman who in defending himself from attack became involved in an altercation that ended with the death of his assailant from a single stab wound to the chest, is not to be prosecuted for murder or for any unlawful act. He had to wait ten days or so for the decision, which must have been the longest ten days of his life. Mr. Singh was sitting in his car with the takings from his shop when his assailant smashed the car window and assaulted him in order to steal the money.
There was a struggle; both men went to the floor. The assailant had armed himself with a knife. This was the weapon that killed him. Mr. Singh was acting in the heat of the moment. He did no more than he honestly and instinctively believed was reasonable. Any jury considering the issue of self-defence would have found it difficult to exclude even the possibility of self defence here, I think. Rightly, the police and CPS decided not to prosecute.
The pity is that Mr. Singh was placed in an agonising position, having done nothing more than get into his car with the takings. Householders who have done nothing more than fend off a burglar can end up with a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. Rightly, there is great public concern and anxiety about the way in which the law seems to approach things. In other words, why are householders or shopkeepers viewed upon an equivalent footing with robbers, burglars and other criminals?
There is a strong case for looking at a series of presumptions that may assist with interpreting the law of self-defence. At one time, for example, it was presumed that the victim of an assault should retreat as far as possible. Sensibly, this rule has been abandoned. We could look at applying a rebuttable presumption that a householder in or on the curtilage of his property acts in reasonable self-defence; likewise a shopkeeper on his property or carrying his takings can be presumed to act in reasonable self-defence unless it is shown to the contrary by the Prosecution.
There was an attempt to introduce this sort of legislation a few years ago. So far, the Government have not thought it appropriate to intervene in this area, despite their alarming and ineffective activism in other areas of criminal justice. It looks as if the sort of wait that was endured by Mr. Singh will be repeated in other cases.
