Crazy as a bag of weasels: update!

Previously at the Phantom Soapbox, British couple shoot robbers. The friggin' cops arrested the couple instead of the robbers. Much uproar ensues, Crown prosecutor loses his nerve and drops the charges against the couple.

Update, judge scolds the robbers. BREAKTHROUGH!!!

Burglars who break into country homes can expect to be shot at by their victims, a judge warned yesterday.

Judge Michael Pert QC spoke out after a lawyer demanded leniency for a career criminal who he claimed had been blasted with a shotgun in 'a form of summary justice'.

The judge replied: '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.' 

Daniel Mansell, 33, and Joshua O'Gorman, 27, were sentenced to four years in prison following the masked raid on the cottage in Welby, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

Nice to see a judge come up with the barest minimum of common sense on demand. It happens so seldom.
But...

Their victims, Andy and Tracey Ferrie, were arrested after Mr Ferrie opened fire on the pair during the midnight break-in.

They were held on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and spent 40 hours in custody before prosecutors decided they had acted in 'reasonable self-defence' and lifted the threat of charges.

The couple emigrated to Australia on Monday amid fears of a revenge attack. Cannabis addict Mansell was shot in the right hand while O'Gorman was shot in the face during the incident earlier this month.

So clearly friends of Mansel and O'Gorman have been dropping some weighted hints.

Kathy Shaidle says: "Note to self: Move to England?"

Absolutely! I hear there's a nice country house in Welby just come available. Bring your own shotgun.

The Phantom