In a rare moment of clarity, a UK judge has almost condoned the actions of home owners who shot and injured two men attempting to burgle their house.



A judge has told two burglars permanently injured when they were shot by a homeowner: "That is the chance you take."


Judge Michael Pert QC jailed Joshua O'Gorman and Daniel Mansell for
four years each after rejecting a plea that he take the shooting into
account.
O'Gorman and Mansell, who have a string of convictions between them,
were blasted with a legally-owned shotgun by Andy Ferrie as they
attempted to ransack his isolated farm cottage in the early hours of
September 2.
O'Gorman, who was shot in the face, and Mansell, who was hit in his
right hand, had pleaded guilty to the break-in in Welby, near Melton
Mowbray, at an earlier hearing.











Sentencing them at Leicester Crown Court, the judge said: "I make it
plain that, in my judgment, being shot is not mitigation. If you burgle
a house in the country where the householder owns a legally held
shotgun, that is the chance you take. You cannot come to court and ask
for a lighter sentence because of it."
He was responding to a mitigation plea from Andrew Frymann,
representing O'Gorman, who said being shot was for his client akin to a
"near-death experience" for which he was not prepared. His injuries left
him with blurred vision, severe pain and problems with his balance.
Replying to Mr Frymann's suggestion that O'Gorman was traumatised,
Judge Pert said the arrest of Mr and Mrs Ferrie on suspicion of grievous
bodily harm could be considered just as disturbing. He said: "Some
might argue that being arrested and locked up for 40 hours is a trauma."
Mr Ferrie, 35, and his wife Tracey, 43, were held in custody for
nearly two days after Mr Ferrie called police to tell them he fired his
shotgun at the intruders. Their arrests prompted widespread criticism.
The couple were later bailed and told they would not face criminal
charges.
Mansell, 33, and O'Gorman, 27, both from Leicester but with no fixed
addresses, appeared in the court dock each wearing a grey sweatshirt
and showing physical evidence of the confrontation. A scar was clearly
visible on the right side of O'Gorman's face and Mansell had his arm in a
sling.
Commenting after sentencing, a spokesman for Leicestershire Police
said: "The decision made by the Crown Prosecution Service, after
reviewing all the evidence, was to take no further action against the
homeowners involved. We are unable to comment any further as we have an
ongoing investigation with three men currently on police bail."


http://www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-news/world-uk-news/2012/09/26/116451-31913213/