Ratio Decidendi
Self-defence must be judged by the circumstances as the defendant honestly believed them to be. Psychiatric conditions affecting perception may be relevant to diminished responsibility.
Facts
Tony Martin, a farmer, shot burglars in his farmhouse with an unlicensed shotgun, killing a 16-year-old and wounding another.
Judgment Summary
The conviction was reduced from murder to manslaughter on diminished responsibility, considering Martin's paranoid personality disorder.
Key Quotes
"The question is whether the defendant honestly believed that the degree of force used was necessary in the circumstances as he believed them to be."
— Lord Woolf CJ
Subsequent Treatment
Developed
Householder self-defence subsequently strengthened by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, s.43.