Tough stuff!...these Billinghams.

Dave Wilkinson

Dave Wilkinson

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Yesterday while strolling down a quiet suburban lane, an enterprising young gentleman (probably late teens) cycled up behind, and for some reason - took a fancy to the small Billingham bag hanging loosely from my right shoulder. Usually I have my head through, and the strap on the opposite shoulder to the bag, but not this time!. Fortunately as the bag slid down my arm, I managed to get a good grip, and the anchor - effect of my 240lbs. brought everything to a halt. Well, after a very short 'tug 'o war' the surprised young gent decided to abandon the attempt, and with a few choice expletives started to pedal away. My 240lbs. proved a good anchor again, when I grabbed the bike and startled rider!, but as I was vigorously convincing the youth what a bad idea he'd had, a public-spirited man in a car slowed right down, and yelled at me to stop being a 'big bully' and leave him alone, as the lad was 'doing no harm - cycling on the footpath'! 😀
Well, the bag is fine - the strap and stitching would probably tow a truck! and the old fella still has a little life left - it seems! 😀
Dave.
 
Well done to you and your bag!

Although I'd like to think I am an 'enterprising young gentleman' myself, I can vividly imagine the type of youth you are talking about. I'd like to think you took out a Leica and given him a good hiding, but unfortunately British police don't take too well to that kind of behaviour.
 
Well done ,Dave. I had a bit of a do myself this week ,with a horse 🙂 Unfortunately ,unlike you ,I lost. Perhaps if I`d had my Billingham. Did you report the encounter ?
 
Michael Markey said:
Well done ,Dave. I had a bit of a do myself this week ,with a horse 🙂 Unfortunately ,unlike you ,I lost. Perhaps if I`d had my Billingham. Did you report the encounter ?
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No...I made my displeasure known - pretty forcibly, and here we are now having to be very careful how enthusiastically we defend our property, before being in big legal trouble - ourselves! 😡
Dave.
 
Dave Wilkinson said:
No...I made my displeasure known - pretty forcibly, and here we are now having to be very careful how enthusiastically we defend our property, before being in big legal trouble - ourselves! 😡
Dave.
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Where I live its legal to shoot someone who is in the act of robbing you like that. There's a liquor store in the inner city of Fort Wayne whose employees all carry guns. There's a sign on the door that has a picture of a gun and the warning that the employees have killed several robbers and will not hesitate to shoot anyone else who tries to rob the place. The employee uniform is a t-shirt with a gun on it and the same warning! I can think of at least 20 men who have been shot and killed there by the store's employees over the last 10 yrs. Its all over the TV news and in the newspapers when this happens, yet people STILL try to rob the place!
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
Where I live its legal to shoot someone who is in the act of robbing you like that. There's a liquor store in the inner city of Fort Wayne whose employees all carry guns. There's a sign on the door that has a picture of a gun and the warning that the employees have killed several robbers and will not hesitate to shoot anyone else who tries to rob the place. The employee uniform is a t-shirt with a gun on it and the same warning! I can think of at least 20 men who have been shot and killed there by the store's employees over the last 10 yrs. Its all over the TV news and in the newspapers when this happens, yet people STILL try to rob the place!
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Chris...it's crazy over here!, a friend of mine - a big powerful forty year old guy, came downstairs in the middle of the night to find two burglars just leaving the house, he chased them down the street, but could not catch them, he told the cops later that if he had - he would have "kicked the sh*t out of 'em", the police officer said he would then have had to arrest him!
Dave.
 
Young chaps like that regularly used to enjoy a good birching which improved their posture and demeanour no end. Unfortunately of late some incredibly nice people have banned us from doing this presumably because it's not very nice to the birch.

Tree huggers, huh? Tsk!
 
DW - you're right, the law in the UK creates a situation whereby if you defend yourself, your family or your property against someone who wishes to either harm you or relieve you of your belongings, then you are in the wrong not the assailant. 😡

(If you ever meet me, ask me about the rifle incident.)
 
Peter_Jones said:
DW - you're right, the law in the UK creates a situation whereby if you defend yourself, your family or your property against someone who wishes to either harm you or relieve you of your belongings, then you are in the wrong not the assailant. 😡

(If you ever meet me, ask me about the rifle incident.)
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Dear Peter,

Not exactly. If they are attacking you, or you are in reasonable fear of assault, you can use reasonable force (which is generously interpreted). If they are trying to run away, then yes, the law in the UK has gone too far in the direction you describe.

It is difficult (though far from impossible) to imagine a situation where a rifle would be 'reasonable force'. For example, if you were carring a rifle and the villain ran towards you, you'd almost certainly get away with shooting him (assuming the rifle was legally held). If he ran away, it would be a different matter.

I've never practised, but I do have a law degree and keep an eye on the law.

Cheers,

R.
 
You gotta love the UK and the way it protects criminals. Defending property with force will get arrested for assault, which is a more serious offense than a charge of theft or burglary. The thief will be out of jail before you are.

The result is that you can steal with near impunity, with no threat of violence from those you steal from, and no worries of serious punishment by the authorities.

I guess it's no surprise that the rate of violent crime in the UK now surpasses that of the US.
 
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