Mr Mystery Guest wrote:Bit iffy that - if you think there's a burglar/intruder in your house and you shoot at them (albeit through a wooden toilet door) is that really murder? To me, murder is the planned killing of another person with a motive to do so, which in this case was never proven.
edit: and as I posted that I could see that perhaps the fact there was an intruder maybe could be classed as the motive
The key point was that this was in no way self defence. Lethal force in self defence can only be used when there is a real and present threat to the life of yourself or another.
Here he speculated there was a burglar. He had no basis for fearing his life was in danger. The door was closed, he had seen no intruder and seen no weapon. There was distance between him and bathroom.
By choosing to shoot into the bathroom he chose to use lethal force. Given the confined space and number of shots fired he had to realise that he might kill someone, in fact that was probably his intention. He cannot and has not in any way been able to justify how or why he felt his life was at risk at the moment he chose to shoot.
If the bathroom door opened and an intruder stepped out holding a gun then he could have reasonably assumed he was in danger. But that didn't happen.