A review has concluded laws on confronting intruders are 'sound'

Derek Godfrey-Brown, 64, was charged with grievous bodily harm after confronting and injuring an intruder he found in his bedroom.

Mr Godfrey-Brown was a publican and company director in Basingstoke, Hampshire, at the time of the incident about 10 years ago and kept irregular working hours.

He said he remembers walking into a downstairs bedroom and surprising a burglar who had climbed in through the window.

"I caught him and he lashed out at me and I reacted with the club that I had and I still have now, " Mr Godfrey-Brown said.

He struck the intruder, breaking his leg.

"I am not a violent person, but the adrenaline is racing so fast if you are confronted with that situation... it happens so fast and you react."

He said he was concerned for his wife and teenage daughter who were in the house at the time.

'Sensed threat'

He also couldn't really see what the intruder was doing when he confronted him because it was dark.

But he "sensed a threat", and that he was going to be kicked hard in the groin.

After he hit the intruder, who turned out to be a soldier, the man "limped off" and Mr Godfrey-Brown called the police.

But Mr Godfrey-Brown, now retired and living in Devon, soon found out this was just the start of a nightmare - he was later charged with grievous bodily harm.

You wouldn't believe the drama created by a court case. I must have been an absolute ogre to live with Derek Godfrey-Brown

"My legal people said grievous bodily harm was quite a serious charge... I was convinced I was not guilty and still am convinced of that," he said.

He pleaded not guilty and elected for a crown court trial to prove his innocence.

The stress of the pending case hung over him for months.

"I was apprehensive. If I'd have got a criminal conviction I'd have lost my pub licence and my job and it would have given me a record from then to eternity.

"You wouldn't believe the drama created by a court case. I must have been an absolute ogre to live with."

He said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case around a week before the trial. He believes the reason given was insufficient evidence.

"I was exceedingly angry about that," he said. "I went through that drama of nine and a half months. Why couldn't the CPS have dropped it earlier?"

'Out of touch'

Mr Godfrey-Brown has since confronted a second intruder in his home, but said this was less frightening because the burglar "ran off when I turned the lights on".

He said he feels the home secretary and other government figures, who have bodyguards for protection, are somewhat "out of touch".

"They don't realise the difficulties ordinary people face."

But he still believes the current law allowing people to use "reasonable force" against intruders should remain unchanged.

"We do not need additional legislation, it is becoming a nanny state," he said.

But Mr Godfrey-Brown feels his own treatment by the police and the charges he faced were "over the top".