Judge apologises for saying he'd "blow the head off" a burglar who entered his house

BrianD3

Don't know if this has been posted already but I thought it was ironic given how there have been recent threads saying judges are going too easy on defendants
From RTE

A District Court Judge has apologised for comments he made during a sitting of Monaghan District Court this week.

In sentencing a 26-year-old man for robbery, Judge Sean McBride said that if he had a licensed shotgun he would 'blow the head off' anyone who came into his house.

He said people had 'no business going into private houses'.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties described the comments as 'outrageous'.

This evening Judge McBride apologised for his comments in a statement issued through the Courts Service.

He said he apologised for 'any offence or upset' that his words may have casued.

Judge McBride said he was trying to emphasise his 'revulsion at the violation of the safety of people's homes and of the sanctuary of their private space'.

He added that he was totally opposed to the use of guns and was against all forms of violence.

So Glad

Kill 'em all I say!

WindSock

kill 'em all and let God sort 'em, marges uncle said that too

Wertz

The bleeding hearts and the PC brigade are on a tour de force on this one.
Perhaps the comments don't belong in the court, but he echoes the sentiments of many....a bit of "border justice" goes a long way to deter burglary.

Dragan

Great. A Judge grows a pair and gives his opinion and some group of bleeding hearts get on his back over it. Motherfumbling typical.

skywalker

Dragan wrote:

Great. A Judge grows a pair and gives his opinion and some group of bleeding hearts get on his back over it. Motherfumbling typical.

Agree 100%. Its more judges like him we need, I say.

Victor

So what happens when some doddery old bat shoots a garda serving a warrant or the local health nurse whos come to check up on them or the paramedic who get shte wrong house?

tamburlaine

Dragan wrote:

Great. A Judge grows a pair and gives his opinion and some group of bleeding hearts get on his back over it. Motherfumbling typical.

Motherfumbling. Brilliant.

Heyes

I dont see why he should have to apologise just because of his position. I think most people would be of the same opinion if someone broke into there house.

ROCKMAN

WHATS NEXT

The bleeding hearts backing a burglar's "unsafe working etc " claim

SHOOT FIRST ANSWER QUESTIONS LATER

NeMiSiS

I agree with him, if I cuaght someone in my house, there would be no questions asked whatsoever.
TK

Dragan

Victor wrote:

So what happens when some doddery old bat shoots a garda serving a warrant or the local health nurse whos come to check up on them or the paramedic who get shte wrong house?

My point is not that it should be brought into law that you can "cap" someone for BandE , merely that in a country that bangs on about Freedom of speech a high level judge simply cannot give his OPINION on something without being browbeaten for it.

It strikes me that the judge feels pretty passionately about someone having there home invaded and sense of security taken away like that. SO why should he not be allowed to express that in a way he deems fit, once he is not trying to influence anyones thinking? If it's done at sentencing then all arguments have been placed and the judge has guidelines for sentencing, it wouldn't affect anything.

tamburlaine

ROCKMAN wrote:

WHATS NEXT

The bleeding hearts backing a burglar's "unsafe working etc " claim

SHOOT FIRST ANSWER QUESTIONS LATER

I like the way you wrote the last line in block and of course underlining 'answer'.

The Hill Billy

I for one would like to remind the "civil liberties" bleeding-hearts that anyone who impinges on my civil liberty to protect my family & property forfeits their goddamn civil liberty not to receive a sound thrashing (or whatever it takes).

Any gobshîte that thinks that it is ok to go into someone's house in the middle of the night to rape them, beat them, terrorise them or take their property should be prepared to take what they are given.

We need a few more judges like Justice Sean "Dirty Harry" McBride.

ROCKMAN

I wonder what sentence he pass down

Hope the scum felt like he was shot

cornbb

"Bleeding hearts" my hole. A judge comes out and essentially advocates self-administration of justice and the bypassing of the legal system, and everyone jumps on the "PC brigade" for berating his stupid ignorant comments. "Naw, f*ck civil liberties, democracy and the rule of law, lets just SHOOT the motherf*ckers on sight! Gerrof moi land! Yeee haawww!"

:rolleyes:

kittenkiller

"I'd kill him if he entered my house but if he raped my daughter I'd give him a suspended sentence!"

We need some proper regulating of sentences handed out.

cornbb

kittenkiller wrote:

"I'd kill him if he entered my house but if he raped my daughter I'd give him a suspended sentence!"

We need some proper regulating of sentences handed out.

Yes, the system is a joke at the moment. One judge advocating self-administered justice and another administering slaps on the wrists to convicted rapists. Talk about mixed messages. We live in a banana republic :cool:

seamus

A judge's charge is to uphold the law. As someone else said, the judge basically declared, "If it is me, then I'd say 'to hell with the law' and just kill the f*cker. But now I'm going to uphold the law for this case". It's an issue because of his job, not because of any liberal bleeding hearts. I do accept his excuse though that it was more an expression of his disgust at the crime rather than an actual declaration of intent. A poor choice of words overall.

The issue is a thorny one. The State doesn't carry out the death penalty for any crimes committed in the state. So why suddenly should homeowners be allowed to completely bypass the justice system and issue their own death penalty? As much as people would like to think otherwise, a person's home isn't their own private jurisdiction.

I do however feel that there should be a more protected place for the home in law. My feeling on it is that unless a burglar ends up dead or permanently mentally incapacitated, then no investigation is required, and the burglar has no legal right to pursue for damages. Even in the event of death, it would need to be established that the death wasn't incidental. That is, it would need to be shown that the burglar was attacked while fleeing, or was otherwise no threat to the person when the fatal blow occured.

NutJob

ROCKMAN wrote:

WHATS NEXT

The bleeding hearts backing a burglar's "unsafe working etc " claim

SHOOT FIRST ANSWER QUESTIONS LATER

there are more cases in different countries

http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/03/may1.html#0506a
http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/02/may3.html#0528c
http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/00nov3.html#001121b

Malteaser!

Dragan wrote:

My point is not that it should be brought into law that you can "cap" someone for BandE , merely that in a country that bangs on about Freedom of speech a high level judge simply cannot give his OPINION on something without being browbeaten for it.

It strikes me that the judge feels pretty passionately about someone having there home invaded and sense of security taken away like that. SO why should he not be allowed to express that in a way he deems fit, once he is not trying to influence anyones thinking? If it's done at sentencing then all arguments have been placed and the judge has guidelines for sentencing, it wouldn't affect anything.

totally agree!

Jocksy

"If it is me, then I'd say 'to hell with the law' and just kill the f*cker.

Wrong.
Its quite legal to blow somebodies head off with a shotgun if they are intruders in your home. The law has even been strenghtened in favour of the homeowner in this regard.

cornbb

He's got a perfect right to say what he believes and to express his opinions, its just that his opinions in this case call into question whether he is fit to be a judge. Surely in order to be a good judge you first have to believe in due process and justice administered by the legal system as opposed to justice administered with a shotgun?

seamus

Jocksy wrote:

Wrong.
Its quite legal to blow somebodies head off with a shotgun if they are intruders in your home. The law has even been strenghtened in favour of the homeowner in this regard.

Em. That's just so completely wrong on so many levels. First off, the law has not yet been changed. Secondly, in the event that someone dies in your home while you were defending yourself, you have to prove two things:
1. That you were unable to escape (or had made an attempt to and failed)
2. That in defending yourself, your response was proportionate to the danger posed by the intruder.
That's the way Irish law currently is.

cornbb

Uh oh, its only a matter of time before someone mentions the P****g N***y incident... I'm off to Humanities...

Dragan

cornbb wrote:

Uh oh, its only a matter of time before someone mentions the P****g N***y incident... I'm off to Humanities...

Good call!!

*ducks out of thread also before the midden hits the windmill *

Degsy

I dont agree with waiting till they actually commit a crime.Prophalylaxis i say. "Scuse me son,are you going to or coming from a gym?" "No,why?" "well then you shouldnt be wearing a tracksuit *BOOM*"
Another social problem nipped in the bud.

ROCKMAN

NutJob wrote:

there are more cases in different countries

http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/03/may1.html#0506a
http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/02/may3.html#0528c
http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/00nov3.html#001121b

wow i knew the Americans had some crazy laws and lawsuits! But the Granny in England been held responsible if intruder get hurt on her barbwire totally insane.
The world's going mad.
Thanks for the links and again wow

smemon

ROCKMAN wrote:

I wonder what sentence he pass down

Hope the scum felt like he was shot

3 month prison sentence as far as i know. The guy had a history of offences and is a recovering alcoholic.

Apparently, he stole a bit of cash and came with cash to court - to make up for the cash he stole. :rolleyes:

Sangre

Heyes wrote:

I dont see why he should have to apologise just because of his position. I think most people would be of the same opinion if someone broke into there house.

Well...he's a Judge and its illegal?

WindSock

I wonder was he the same Judge from the Froggy Ward case?

Tar.Aldarion

You forget to factor in hillbilly percentages in some posters.

Jesus Wept

boreds wrote:

kill 'em all and let God sort 'em, marges uncle said that too

Unfortunately, one day put his theory into practice. It took 75 federal marshalls to bring him down. Now let's never speak of him again.

sceptre

He added that he was totally opposed to the use of guns and was against all forms of violence.

Makes an odd addition to saying he'd "blow the head off" anyone who entered his house. He could at least ask them out for dinner first, maybe some dancing and then who knows what'll happen.

The Hill Billy

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

You forget to factor in hillbilly percentages in some posters.

Your point being...?

ExoduS 18.11

boreds wrote:

kill 'em all and let God sort 'em, marges uncle said that too

dam, someone got there before me :P

skywalker_208

blow his head off! thats an utter disgrace!

i would shoot slightly below each knee first, let the cnut near bleed to death, then blow his head off!

if course that may require a little more cleaning up

(ive been burgled twice in 2 years to anyone who thinks i am being over the top)

bastards

Tha Gopher

While he probably shouldnt have said in terms of his job, he did. And I wouldnt have apologised quite honestly.

Actually no, Id have apologised at the time to keep my job, and at my retirement function 10 years later go into a drunken ramble about how I meant it all along.

Plug

the judge was right in my opinion, i'd do the same thing if I had a gun.
but slightly different blow his legs off then feed him to the pigs while he is still alive and if the pigs get too full(probly so from the fat bastrad) then blow his head off.

irish_bob

this is an extremley interesting thread to me as i am familiar with the judge in question
while it is not surprising that many people would applaud the judges comments due to the publics frustration of what they see as too leniant a sentences for tresspassing

my reaction when i 1st heard the story was i wish the judge would practice what he preaches
about 18 months ago i was up in court in front of judge sean mc bride , i was charged with assault , in truth i defended myself against a tresspasser on my property
because the tresspasser had the gift of the gab , he actually came out on top in the case and i was convicted of assault even though i ended up with a black eye for 3 weeks out of the incident , i was deemed to have used unresonable force in defending my property

the judge in question , i am familiar with not only from my conviction but from living in the are where he precides , he is a controversial judge to say the least and regarded as extremley erratic , reactive and intemperete
he is regulary in the loca papers for having thrown a wobbler in court , be it berating a member of the gardai for something as simple as not having a door open or telling a solicitor to be quiet for no apparent reason

he made the national news about a yr ago when he ordered a young man in cavan to stand outside the place where he had been arrested for urinating on a saturday night outside a nightclub , wearing a plaquered reading i will not urinate in public , a bit like something you would read in a charles dickens dont you think

now i know that most judges are conservative but judge sean mc bride is nothing short of a radical right winger

his latest going off on a tangent is nothing new , this one just happend to make the headlines , hes a nut job in a possition of power