Common sense...

[Brandlin]

As my father would say "the law is the law".
He would go on to explain in the absence of some kind of all seeing eye, until the facts have been established some arrests, and with them the possibility of charges being brought, have to be made.
The police in this matter acted correctly and I'll be honest if I was in the old fellas shoes i would have been glad of it.
With the police being able to carry out a proper and correct investigation the result for the old guy is worth its weight in gold.
Let's hope he gets left alone to pick up the pieces and carry on with his life. I expect the opposite though. I can see reporters, newspapers , tv channels and most probably a few undesirables getting in his way for some time.
Poor beggar. There by the grace of God go I.

My thoughts exactly!

Well said. We don't have access to what the police know - we only hear the spin put on it by journalists and their job is to make a story.
The real story here is "Man defends home.Criminal unfortunately dies. Police do their job. All is well."
Sadly that doesn't sell newspapers/mouseclicks.

 

[HappyHacker]

While I agree the police have to check what has happened. I still think immediately arresting a 78 year old on suspicion of murder when he defends himself after or when being assaulted by one of the two men who broke into his house, resulting in the death of one of them, is going over the top. He has been handcuffed, carted off to a police station, fingerprinted, DNA swabs taken and then kept in custody for two days. As he is also a carer for his wife how does she feel?

I know very little about police procedure but if they have followed the correct procedure then I believe it is wrong and needs modifying to incorporate a little humanity into it.

 

[Lons]

Unfortunately while the police have to follow specific procedures following a sudden or unexplained death there can be human errors and information leaks.

An elderly woman in our village died on good friday, the police were called and promptly arrested on suspicion of murder, her partner of 20 years, a man in his seventies. He wasn't going anywhere and was devastated by the death of his partner but they stuck him in handcuffs took him away with half the village watching and issued a press release.
They released him after a few hours saying they now believe no 3rd party was involved but commonsense and very little investigation and even asking the neighbours would have shown that the poor lady was dying of cancer and perhaps took the easy pain free way out as she had said as much to those very neighbours.

Even if he did help her which apparently he didn't I know many people who would not stand by and watch their loved one suffer serious pain, right or wrong! Me included.

Unfortunately the experience of being arrested and thought of as a murderer will have a lasting effect on the guy and his family.

 

[delboy47]

I agree with some of the previous comments regarding Police procedure but with some caveats. Why the handcuffs on a guy that age who was no doubt suffering serious trauma and what provision was made for care of his wife while they had him banged up.

Obviously, they had to investigate the circumstances and common sense eventually prevailed but I understand the house has now had to have security grilles fitted and been boarded up as they have been advised not to return there. By all accounts the victims family seem a rum bunch to say the least and it reprisal action may well be likely.

This may mean he and his wife will not be able to return to their home and have to sell up and move elsewhere.