7. Attacking Someone Is Okay As Long As Its Self Defence
Im sure youve seen this one before. He hit me, so I hit him back, and then you know, chased him around the garden with a sledgehammer before kicking him in the face. Well that sounds perfectly fine, doesnt it? He hit you first after all. I mean, he started it. And you were just doing what was natural, i.e., protecting yourself against this horrible and violent threat. Of course, self defence is a valid defence in the law, we all know that, and this basically means you can get away scot free when you return violence against someone who has hurt you. No one would criminalize you for retaliating, right? Well, actually, no, not right at all. As the House of Lords in the case of Clegg have confirmed, there is no defence if the defendant is justified in using some force, but decides to use excessive force instead. Revenge is not allowed in law. That is the end of the matter, for a number of reasons. Number one, whilst protecting yourself is one thing, hurting someone else because they hurt you is childish and genuinely harmful to society. You can by all means stop them hurting you, but you cant release all hell and make them rue the day they ever decided to touch you. Number two, even hurting someone to a seemingly minor extent can cause unforeseen damage. One misdirected punch, and they might die. One foul kick, and they might be in a coma for the rest of their lives. As a result of policy therefore, self defence can only be applied when you have genuinely only defended yourself. That is the only right you have- retribution is for the law.