A resident from Eindhoven who overpowered a burglar at home last week is not prosecuted. The burglar was injured in a struggle with the resident. But what is wisdom if you caught a burglar at home? For example, can you use violence in such a case? “In some cases it is simply: he or me.”
Someone who knows everything about this theme is lawyer Bob Kaarls. Years ago he assisted a family in a case where the robber died. According to him, the basis is simple: someone you caught red -handed you can hold. “We call that a citizen judgment.”
But if it comes to a confrontation with such a perpetrator, it becomes a more difficult story. A term that often comes with things like this is bad weather. “We talk about that when you protect your own body or things. You can always defend yourself. So that can also mean that you hit a burglar, perhaps even with a stick and then work to the ground.”
“You can’t just throw a burglar off the roof.”
But there are also situations where it is not that black and white. The lawyer refers to a case in Nuenen in 2024, with a burglar jumping off the roof when he was caught by residents. “For example, if there was a fight on that roof in Nuenen,” Kaarls outlines.
“If it is a long and wide roof, there is no acute danger for the citizen. Then you can’t just throw a burglar off.” With a small balcony, it is different. Much more dangerous, especially. “Then it’s he or me. If the burglar then falls ugly, you can speak of a classic stormy weather.”
As a lawyer, Kaarls once became involved in such a difficult case. In 2010, a Spar supermarket in South Holland was attacked by armed young men. The owner and his son were locked up in an office on the first floor. The son then thrown with a toolbox, after which the robber fell unhappy and died.
“Sometimes the violence that such a victim has used it appears too heavy.”
Kaarls acted as the son’s lawyer. He was considered a suspect for a while, but did not have to go to the cell during that period. “In such a case you have to prove that the victim clearly acted out of emotion. That he is very upset after that violence,” he explains.
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“Sometimes the violence that such a victim has used it turns out to be too heavy. Then we are talking about bad weather excess.” Think of a harmless burglar, but also a robbery in a shopping center. “Because there you have plenty of room to walk away and call the police.”
“If your children are sleeping upstairs, you can absolutely defend yourself.”
The most controversial Brabant business took place in 2012 in Diessen, when a 37-year-old burglar was killed after a struggle with the residents of the house. State Secretary Fred Teeven then achieved the news with his remark about ‘the risks of the burglar trade’. In the Diessense case, the judiciary found that no unnecessary violence had been used.
According to Kaarls, it is always easy to talk afterwards. “Every case is treated in its own way. If you are anxious and your children are sleeping upstairs, for example, you can absolutely defend yourself.”
This is an updated version of a story that appeared on the website of Omroep Brabant on January 16, 2024.
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