DURBAN - WHILE KwaZulu-Natal police search for the relatives of a 31-year-old man who was allegedly shot and killed by a homeowner in Northdale, a criminal law expert has said people are allowed to act in self-defence.
This follows an incident in which a homeowner allegedly shot and killed an “intruder” in his home last Thursday. Poobalan Padayachee was released on bail of R3 000 on Monday following his arrest.
Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said police officers from Mountain Rise SAPS responded to a report of a shooting in Stork Road on Thursday.
“Upon arrival at the scene, they noticed a 31-year-old man with two gunshot wounds, in the arm and lower abdomen. He was stuck on a fence and still breathing. An ambulance was called, and (medics) certified him dead at the scene,” Gwala said.
She added that the police were told that the deceased was an intruder and had been shot by the owner of the house.
“A 62-year-old suspect was arrested for murder and appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday,” she said. The case was postponed to November 26 for further investigation.
Criminal law expert advocate William Booth said that acting in self-defence was justifiable in a court of law.
“You are allowed to defend yourself or a third person. If someone attacks you or attempts to, they become an imminent danger – which then prompts you to act in self-defence.”
Booth said the mere fact that somebody broke into someone’s house could entitle the homeowner to defend themselves.
“Usually intruders are armed. If somebody is in your house, what is he doing in your house anyway?”
He noted that there were certain circumstances which did not permit a homeowner to shoot an intruder, and warned people to be very careful of just shooting at those who had broken into their homes.
“If a person breaks in and when you show up they break through the window and flee, the law does not permit you to shoot that person. But, you are allowed as a private individual to arrest a person, and wait for the police to come to the scene,” Booth said.
He said that in every self-defence act, there had to be an element where an intruder created an imminent danger, or was about to attack the occupant or a third person.
“They might be carrying a knife, a stick, a gun or any kind of weapon, and that is dangerous. The fact that we are living in dangerous times where people break in and kill the occupants of houses also causes alarm and panic. When one sees an intruder their mind is already thinking about someone who was killed in their home by an intruder,” Booth said.
Daily News