[ben]

Whilst I sympathize with the sentiments, one cannot simply act as though one's property is some kind of oasis where the law that applies is whatever one dreams up.

Imagine, say, a child climbing over to retrieve a football -we've all done it - and getting mauled to death by a dog or speared or electrocuted by some home made man trap. Now one could argue he shouldn't have been in there, but one cannot act as though trespass were some kind of pretext for 'anything goes'. On that note reasonable force is permitted and is at the same time dependent on various circumstances. Too many people have been riled up by ill-presented tabloid stories and American drama, sadly.

As to the theft risk, there's one area nobody seems to have mentioned, scrap metal especially copper. A family member even had an old washing machine stolen from up the side of her house, presumably for scrap value. Some people literally do take anything.