(UK) Postmaster 'shocked' by death

O

Oatka

New member
I thought sawed off shotguns were illegal. ;)

It's the rare man who can bring a knife to a gun fight and win, but all the "distress" and hand-wringing over the BG's death, if not an act, is disgusting.
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/06/24/timnwsnws01003.html

A POSTMASTER who stabbed a man during an attempted robbery in his shop said yesterday that he was "shocked" to learn that the man had died from his injuries.

Richard Watkins fought off the intruder, who had been armed with a sawn-off shotgun, and defended himself with a knife during the hold-up at Wolverley Post Office, near Kidderminster, Worcestershire, on Tuesday.

Scott Griffiths, 28, of Wall Heath, Kingswinford, West Midlands, was found later fatally wounded in a car thought to have been
used in the raid.

Mr Watkins, 50, who was praised by police for his bravery in trying to disarm the man, said he was grateful for the public support he had received.

He said in a statement read by Jonathan Dollin, his solicitor: "I appreciate the expressions of support which I have received
from members of the local community at Wolverley and others which are helping me through this very difficult and distressing
time.

"I was shocked to learn that one of those involved later died from the injuries he received during the incident."

Mr Dollin said Mr Watkins was "deeply distressed" by what had happened and asked for his privacy to be respected.

"Richard has been through a terrifying experience. While going about his normal business in the post office he was suddenly
confronted by a masked man armed with a shotgun," Mr Dollin said.

Meanwhile West Mercia police were continuing to question three men in connection with the raid, having obtained extensions from magistrates for detention for a further 36 hours.

Five people - four men and a woman - were arrested in the West Midlands area after the attempted robbery.
 
'Couldn't possibly have been a sawed off shotgun. As you supposed, they are illegal and therefore are no longer a threat to the public. 'Must have been a cleverly disguised 2x4.
 
Since this is England, were a man might be prosecuted for murder in the most clear cut case of self defense, I would guess there is a strong possibility that his "Solicitor" is saying these things to cover his client from a leagal point of view.
Won't be surprised if there come to be a lot of cases of decent Brits being shocked to learn that knives and guns can kill people in the future.
 
Its already been decided not to prosecute in this case. Although it may not seem so, you do have a right to self defense. A few years ago there was an attempted robbery at a gun dealers. The owner loaded a .357 and shot the two bad guys whilst they were holding a colleague at gun point. That was considered justifed in the circumstances.

I presume some people are referring to the Tony Martin case; he was jailed after shooting a burgular during a robbery. That case was very different. He shot a 16 yr old boy without warning and then left him to bleed to death. Even in the US I don't believe this would have been classified as justifiable.

The man also has a history of abusing firearms, having shot out the windows in his brothers house after a family argument, discharged a pistol during another and shooting at youngsters scrumping for apples in an orchard.

What you don't have the right to do is execute someone who doesn't pose a lethal threat - and its the same in the US.

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"Quemadmoeum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est."
("A sword is never a killer, it's a tool in the killer's hands.") -
Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the Younger" (ca. 4 BC-65 AD).
 
It is all very interesting with sly twists, Lone Ranger, and I really don't understand the roots of this little press report, which itself may be garbled.
The police praise a man for trying to disarm a man with a sawed off shot gun. I find it hard to swallow that this man really made any effort to disarm such a fellow. Why don't they just praise him for being lucky enough to kill such an armed robber?
After performing a heroic act, why does this man have to hide behind a sollicitor who makes obviously well crafted remarks, no doubt from some legal point of view? In the process, he makes the hero into a dork. Why?
On rereading the release, it does seem to imply that there is some sort of local public ground swell by both the police and the local community in favor of this man. But does he need this ground swell in the case of a clear cut armed robbery attempt?
It is indeed an odd little story. It looks like these people are trying to act as if they are part of Western Civilization as we have known it sunce the time of Classical Greece, but somehow just cannot quite pull it off.
 
In the US, it depends upon the law of each state. In Texas you can apparently use lethal force against crimes of property.



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Byron Quick
 
This is pure propaganda. Crimes such as these can not happen in the UK. Guns there are illegal for Christ's sake. How can anybody get a gun if they are illegal? Shocking to note that when you stab someone they die. I bet the only reason this case is different from the farmer who shot and killed the burglar is that 1) he didnt use a gun and 2) he was one of the King's men.
 
Propoganda maybe but guns are not illegal in the UK. Private ownership of handguns is banned but shotguns, rifles and sound suppressors :D can be obtained albeit through a fairly complicated system of licensing and registration.
 
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