Junkie Break-In

swingking

This happened to my girlfriend yesterday:

While she was studying some junkie decided to break in and sleep on the couch. She and her family told him to get out. He refused. The guy was passed out on the couch.

Because of the law, no-one could do anything to the scumbag. They simply had to call the police, wait an hour and let them deal with it.

The weirdest thing is that this incident happened at 4 O'Clock during the day.

Has this happened to anyone before. Or happened to the relatives or friends of anyone.

I find this bizarre. :eek:

Jumpy

swingking wrote:

This happened to my girlfriend yesterday:

While she was studying some junkie decided to break in and sleep on the couch. She and her family told him to get out. He refused. The guy was passed out on the couch.

Because of the law, no-one could do anything to the scumbag. They simply had to call the police, wait an hour and let them deal with it.

The weirdest thing is that this incident happened at 4 O'Clock during the day.

Has this happened to anyone before. Or happened to the relatives or friends of anyone.

I find this bizarre. :eek:

Depends on who was there, if it was all women, then calling the police is the correct thing to do. But an hour?? It was a break in for gods sake.
You are entitled to eject him from the premises, providing you have the ability to do so.

WindSock

It is kind of funny though. He broke in to sleep on the couch
''Get out of my house''
''Ah go away, will ye, I'm tryin te get some kip here''

I have heard about this quite alot . One of my friends was in bed, he woke up about 4am and there was a guy sleeping in the chair at the end of his bed. He woke the guy up eventually and gave him money for a taxi back to Ballymun.

Also i was in the train station last week were a oung guy full of smiles sat down and fell asleep on sombodys shoulder almost instantly. The other guy was trying to read a book and had to leave. Eventually an ambulance came to pick him up.

It does happen alot though .

connundrum

Because of what law?

I thought the criminal justice act was ammended to allow home owners use appropriate force in dealing with break ins? Maybe I picked that up wrong like

Simple solution: Throw him out on his arse, using force if necessary. Then when the Guards call round, tell them of his threatening behaviour and the damage to property he caused.

Thats nearly an unbelievable story!

civdef

If the lawful occupants had the ability do do so, they had every right to evict this person using necessary force.

If the junkie did any damage breaking in, i.e. didn't just open an an unlocked door, they should be done for criminal damage.

patrickolee

Never heard of something like this, but it does sound surreal! You did the right thing, sit back and wait for the gaurds. He wasn't doing any harm by the sounds of it, apart from freaking your girlfriend out.

eirebhoy

Dre as in Dray wrote:

It does happen alot though .

First I've heard of it.

beans

Sleeping junkies on the couch? On a Sunday? That's where I like to spend my Sundays thank you very much.

At the least I would ask him to use the beanbag until the Gardaí arrived...

Miguel_Sanchez

swingking wrote:

Because of the law, no-one could do anything to the scumbag. They simply had to call the police, wait an hour and let them deal with it.

Because of what law? If memory serves me correctly you can shoot, reload and shoot again these days and it's all considered self defence. Or is that only allowed if you're an old Mayo farmer?

NeMiSiS

I would have broke his legs , and said he threatend to rape members of my family, but that's just me.
TK

AlmightyCushion

I would have woken him and told him I had just killed the family who owned the place and that I was fleecing the place. Then ask him would he mind giving us a hand. I doubt he would have stayed around much longer.

Kinetic^

Yeah I've heard of this happening a while ago. People whom it happened to put their house up for sale, said they couldn't live in it anymore.

Kick in the face tbh!!!!

_blank_

Should have kept him as a pet.

patrickolee

AlmightyCushion wrote:

I would have woken him and told him I had just killed the family who owned the place and that I was fleecing the place. Then ask him would he mind giving us a hand. I doubt he would have stayed around much longer.

Lol, that might have worked!

kmick

Extreme violence with prejudice.

jor el

While he was sleeping, you should have duck taped his hands and feet together, then drag him outside and leave him on the street. Ring the Gardai and tell them of your break in and that the culprit was tied up outside waiting for a paddy wagon. That's what I'd do anyway. Also, have someone with a bat/hurley standing by when taping him up, just in case he wakes up.

I also don't think the new criminal justice bill allows for reasonable force in a home break-in situation. Fine Geal and Labour both wanted that included but Pansy McDowell wouldn't put it in. However, how would anyone know if he was or wasn't making threatening moves towards you? Junkies don't make very credible witnesses.

the_syco

Punch him in the head, drag him outside, and call the cops.

OP: have him done for breaking and entering, damage to property, etc.

Schlemm

So how come bouncers can kick you out of a club if you're drunk and disorderly, but you can't kick a junkie out of your own house?!?

The law is crazy.

patrickolee

Afaik, you can use more force on them if they are in your bathroom or bedroom (usually upstairs)... so if you were going to drag him anyway, it probably should be there! O.P. You did the right thing not engaging him, just not worth it and no harm done.

liamdubh

swingking wrote:

Because of the law, no-one could do anything to the scumbag.

Bollox. The law would have allowed you to drag his ass into the street.

DarkJager

There's something in the law, that if an intruder is upstairs in your house, your life is considered in danger and you are allowed to use excessive force to stop them.

If it was me, I would have dragged that ****in junkie upstairs and bust him up. Call the cops then and let them come drag his ass to a hospital.

swingking

just to clarify; I wasn't with my girlfriend at the time. She was there with her mother.

Oh, If I had've been there then I would have tore the scumbag to shreds or














told him to leave

AlmightyCushion

Should have tried to freak him out.
Just start twitching frequently and exaggerate your movements wildly.
Also start talking to him in a perfectly normal tone and voice but make no sense whatsoever. And make each sentence relate in no way to the last. Every so often mid way through a sentence stop only to scream loudly while shaking your face repeatedly in his face for about 2 seconds then go back to the previous step like nothing had happened.

After about 4.7 seconds of this he'll think he's goin' through some bad trip or something and leave as quickly as he can.

WindSock

What I would have done was...go to the nearest street corner, buy some heroin, lace it with arsenic, attach it to a fishing rod or bit of string, then drop it on the floor beside my gummy zombie friend on the couch and lure him outside, then close the door behind him.

Voodu Child

That would make great idea for a sitcom - a loveable junkie who lives on the couch of an-upper class family, getting up to all kinds of hilarious crime-related hi-jinks...

A bit like 'Alf' or 'Harry and the Hendersons', except with a ballymun junkie instead of bigfoot.

More characters?

Feral Mutant

DarkJager wrote:

There's something in the law, that if an intruder is upstairs in your house, your life is considered in danger and you are allowed to use excessive force to stop them.

That seems very unfair to bungalow owners.

_blank_

Feral Mutant wrote:

That seems very unfair to bungalow owners.

Forget the homeowners, the law is there to protect the burglar.

How would you feel if a family member, who just happened to be a burglar, was beaten up for no reason?

Some people...

Turner

You can use no more force than is necessary.

So if the guy is sleeping on your couch reasonable force would be to wake him up and push him outside. If he resisted you could increase the amount of force used up to and including lethal force.

You would have to prove (most likely in the central criminal court) that in killing the intruder you used no more force than was necessary.

dcarroll

this is dealt with in detail in people dpp v. barnes, here the judge talks about the fact that if you see someone in your home, feelings such as shock and fear may cause you to over react

aodhu

Going to bed the other night I noticed people in my shed stealing things. I phoned the police but was told no one was in the area to help. They said they would send someone over as soon as possible.
I hang up. A minute later I rang again. "Hello" I said "I called you a minute ago because there were people in my shed. You don't have to hurry now, because I've shot them"
Within minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, plus a helicopter and an armed response unit. They caught the burgelers red handed.
One of the officers said " I thought you said you'd shot them"

To which I replied "I thought you said no one was available"


Ok, so that's a joke, but if it took the cops an hour to arrive at your house, maybe it could be applied!!

Tha Gopher

re the law, do you really think if you whack the head off a junkie and kick him out of your house he is going to report you? The Gardai asking why he was there in the first place and how did he get in might put him off.

By the sounds of his state he probably doesnt recall ever being in your house anyway.

patrickolee

Chief--- wrote:

You would have to prove (most likely in the central criminal court) that in killing the intruder you used no more force than was necessary.

No, I think the prosecution would have to prove that you used more force than you deemed necessary at the time and in the situation.

irishgeo

you should have told the cops you were going to get your gun and shoot him, they be around in a flash.