Householders will not face prosecution for attacking or even killing a burglar providing they use only "reasonable force", new guidelines said today. Police and prosecutors published a new leaflet advising the public how far they can go to defend their property. Even using items as weapons would not lead to prosecution if householders were doing what they "honestly and instinctively" believed was necessary "in the heat of the moment", it said. Today's leaflet from the Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) attempted to clear up confusion over the point at which defending one's family and property becomes a crime. The document, which will be distributed through Citizens' Advice Bureaux and police forces in England and Wales, said: "You are not expected to make fine judgments over the level of force you use in the heat of the moment. "So long as you only do what you honestly and instinctively believe is necessary in the heat of the moment, that would be the strongest evidence of you acting lawfully and in self-defence. "This is still the case if you use something to hand as a weapon." The leaflet added that the more extreme the circumstances and the more frightened a householder, the more force he or she could lawfully use. It also pointed out that intruders did not necessarily have to be the first to use violence. It went on: "If you have acted in reasonable self defence ... and the intruder dies you will still have acted lawfully. "Indeed there are several such cases where the householder has not been prosecuted." It warned that you could still face the courts for using "excessive and gratuitous force" if, for example, you knocked someone unconscious but continued to attack them or if you set a trap to hurt or kill intruders rather than involving the police. If burglars run off with your property, you can still use force to recover it, said the leaflet, adding: "A rugby tackle or a single blow would probably be reasonable." But it went on: "Acting out of malice and revenge with the intent of inflicting punishment through injury or death would not." Director of public prosecutions Ken Macdonald QC said: "The law is on the side of householders. "Prosecutions of householders for tackling intruders are extremely rare - only a very few in the past 15 years. "Even where householders have badly injured or even killed burglars, the CPS has declined to prosecute unless they have used wholly excessive force. "However, there has been concern and uncertainty over the force that householders are able to use, so we need to explain how we deal with these sensitive cases and give some guidance on what we mean by reasonable force. "CPS lawyers will prioritise these cases to ensure that we make decisions as quickly as possible." Acpo president Chris Fox said: "We want everyone to clearly understand that they can use force to protect themselves or others. "The force used should be reasonable force. "We want everyone to understand that while we have to investigate the circumstances of such events, we will always remember that anyone engaged in a criminal act should expect reasonable force to be used against them by their victim." | 
