UK model warned by police for defending home

On January 9, British model, musician, and television presenter Myleene Klass was home with her young daughter when she noticed several teenagers peering into her window. It was just after midnight, and the brazen youths had trespassed through a garden to get to her house.

Frightened, Klass grabbed a knife and banged on the window. The intruders quickly ran away.

Hertfordshire police were called and issued a warning--not to the trespassers, but to Klass.

“I was left shocked and surprised,” she said, “to be told that a private individual in the privacy of their own home runs the risk of committing a criminal offence if, out of fear for their own safety and their loved ones, they grab something with which they could defend themselves if an intruder enters their home.”

Klass’ spokesman, Jonathan Shalit, said, “Myleene was aghast when she was told that the law did not allow her to defend herself at home. All she did was scream loudly and wave the knife to frighten them off.”

Young thugs are a problem in the United Kingdom. They seem to murder and rob with impunity, so the danger Klass faced was real. After Joseph Phillips, 15, told friends he wondered what it would be like to kill someone, he broke into the home of eighty-three-year-old Kathleen Hutchings. As she was sleeping, Phillips used her walking stick to beat her nearly to death. She was found by her daughter-in-law and rushed to a hospital. Her eye-socket was broken, her left wrist was broken, she was blinded in one eye, and the once-spry woman is now unable to care for herself. The UK newspaper Mail.Online reported that Phillips “must serve a minimum of two years in custody of an indefinite sentence.” There’s little doubt that he’ll be out within a few years.

Speaking of her own encounter with thugs, Klass said, “It was, of course, very frightening, but I don’t think I did anything any other mother--or father--wouldn’t do. I was protecting my daughter and I was protecting my house, and I have absolutely no regrets about what I did. I totally respect British law, but surely everyone has the right to self defence in their own home if they are in danger.”