What you can legally do if someone breaks into your home
We all secure our homes every evening and hope no one attempts to enter illegally. So what happens if an intruder breaks in and what legal protections do you have?
experts Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) explains that although encountering a burglar in your home can be frightening, your priority should be to contact the police whenever possible. The CPS is a non-departmental department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by the police and other investigating authorities in England and Wales.
To assist those who may encounter this scenario, the CPS and police have published guidance on self-defence and how to manage such incidents to ensure fair outcomes and maintain public trust.
Can I use reasonable force if someone breaks into my home?
Crown Prosecution Service It directs people to a document that says: “Anyone can use reasonable force to protect himself or herself or others, to make an arrest, or to prevent crime. You are not expected to make good judgments about the level of force you use in the heat of the moment.”
“As long as you only do what you honestly and instinctively believe is necessary in the heat of the moment, that will be the strongest evidence that you acted legally and in self-defense.”
He adds: “It’s the same when you use something in your hand as a weapon. As a general rule, the more extreme the circumstances and the more extreme the fear felt, the more force you can legally use in self-defense.”
What is ‘reasonable’?
You are allowed to use reasonable force to protect yourself. Even if it seems excessive later, it can still be justified if it is deemed necessary at the time of a home emergency.
The CPS explains: “The force you use must always be reasonable in the circumstances you believe to be the case. If, when defending yourself or others against an intruder in your home, you are acting in extreme circumstances at the time and you have not had a chance to consider exactly how much force would be required to repel the intruder, it may still be reasonable in the circumstances to use a level of force that is subsequently thought to be disproportionate: it may seem reasonable to you at the time, but in hindsight your actions may appear disproportionate.”
“The law will give you the benefit of the doubt in these circumstances. This only applies if you are acting in self-defense or to protect others in your home and the force you use is disproportionate; it is still illegal to use disproportionate force to protect property.”
be careful
The CPS makes clear that the law does not cover actions that exceed what is reasonable or are carried out for retaliatory purposes. For example, knocking out an intruder and then continuing to attack them would likely be seen as extreme. It states that such behavior “may amount to extremely disproportionate force for which the law does not protect you.”
Do I have to wait to be attacked?
CMB says “no”. If you are in your own home and are truly afraid for yourself or others, there is no need to wait. It confirms that “the law does not require you to wait to be attacked before using defensive force.”
What if the intruder dies? Will I be judged?
If you use reasonable self-defense and the intruder dies, your actions may still be legal and, in some cases, individuals will not be prosecuted. But this depends on the conditions.
The CPS says that if, for example, you knocked someone unconscious and also “injured or killed them as punishment” or “you knew they were a deliberate intruder and instead of involving the police you set a trap to hurt or kill them” then “you would have acted using grossly excessive and unnecessary force and could be prosecuted.”
What happens during the investigation?
CPS says police are investigating all the facts of the incident, including whether an intruder caused the situation. He wants people to understand the process because some cases can be misleading, such as hiding other crimes.
He explains: “When police investigate an incident they weigh all the facts, including the fact that the intruder caused the situation to arise in the first place.
“We hope everyone understands that the police have a duty to investigate incidents involving death or injury. Things are not always what they seem. In some cases, people act as if a burglary has occurred to cover up other crimes, such as fights between drug dealers.”
