London - Demands by the Tory leader, Mr William Hague, for a radical overhaul of the law on self-defence could lead to a massive increase in violent crime in Britain, a chief constable warned yesterday.
Mr Crispian Strachan, Chief Constable of the Northumbria Police, said he feared that offering greater legal protection to people who tackled intruders risked generating US levels of violent assault and killing in Britain.
His warning came as senior legal and police figures questioned the wisdom of Mr Hague's call to change the law in the wake of the Tony Martin case to create a "strong presumption" in favour of the householder.
Mr Hague, campaigning in Warwickshire for next week's council elections, said the Norfolk farmer's life sentence for shooting dead a burglar who broke into his home had "lit a touch paper", triggering an explosion of anger among law-abiding citizens.