Caution be damned... I’d put up a fight

I HAVE never been put to the test and, God willing, I never will be. But even though I’m 74, I’m sure I would go for it. Or him, or them, whoever it is.

Bleeding-heart liberalism goes out the window when armed men break in. By violating our private space and threatening me – and worse my wife, also in her 70s – they abdicate any right to be treated with respect. I do not own, or want to own, a gun. But I would pick up any object – knife, poker, walking stick – and attack a burglar who was coming for me.

This may not be wise. Most are young men. They would be stronger,

quicker and probably used to violence. But the instinct for self-preservation would kick in and I think the adrenalin rush, the red mist, could even the scales.

A few years ago, I had hold of a youth trying to pick my pocket on a bus. He fled at the next stop and I followed. Listening on the mobile, my wife urged “Don’t go down the underpass!” It was at Elephant and Castle, South London. He might have pulled a knife but such was my anger I didn’t care. And I bet many men of my generation would react the same way as me if threatened by armed intruders. We didn’t flog our guts out to create a home and family for some thug to desecrate it.

Relax, old boy. You’ll have a heart attack without being burgled. Invest in a better alarm and it shouldn’t come to armed conflict.