When is a crime not a crime?
Saturday, April 14, 2018

I’ve been following this story of a burglar who messed with the wrong people and got killed. He’s British I believe and, apparently, he was a career criminal. His last mission went terribly wrong when an elderly couple whose home he had broken into decided they weren’t having it!

The intruder was stabbed and later died of his injuries. The case probably wouldn’t have made news if the offender’s family hadn’t come out to basically accuse the aggrieved couple of murder! They were briefly detained but later released after authorities determined the burglar had only been stabbed in self-defence.

That hasn’t stopped his family from further distressing the couple, going as far as setting up a makeshift memorial close to the couple’s home! Here’s what I find disturbing. The dead man’s relatives seem unbothered by his actions and lifestyle, which is essentially what led to his unfortunate death. If he had been making an honest living, none of this would have happened.

His family is upset and say he didn’t serve to die, which is understandable I guess because losing a loved one is tough, regardless of how or why they died. I thought it was odd though that they were openly leveling accusations against his victims.

Turns out they were well aware of his line of work and some even went on missions with him! Usually, even bereaved relatives would acknowledge that their loved one was wrong or something. Not these ones!

If I knew a close friend or family member was up to no good, I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to plead their case unless I was part of the gang. I’m sorry! I would understand if he stole to feed his kids or pay his Mum’s hospital bill, which is clearly not the case here.

This was someone who had done this his entire life, had no remorse for his actions, didn’t care at all about his victims and would have carried on if he hadn’t been stopped.  I remember another case of a South African mother who attacked one of her daughter’s rapists. She returned home one night to find three men had gang-raped her daughter.

Two run off but she grabbed one and hurt him so bad he too later succumbed to his injuries. A lengthy court battle ensued but if I remember correctly, she was eventually acquitted. In my opinion, this case should never have gone to trial. Would this poor woman ever have had to kill if those men hadn’t attacked her child in the first place? Probably not.

I know we shouldn’t take the law into our hands but sometimes, people ask for it. I don’t know how I’d react if God forbid I found myself in a similar situation but if you go out of your way to break into my home or try to hurt me, don’t be surprised or enraged by how I choose to protect myself in the heat of the moment!