UK's Daily Mail:

For more than two years, Sydney Davis's house has been under siege from youths throwing stones. After two hours of bombardment in the latest attack and no sign of the police, the 65-year-old retired builder decided enough was enough. As a particularly large missile landed in his kitchen, he grabbed a plank of wood from the garden and ran towards the gang to scare them away.

The police arrived just in time - to arrest Mr Davis for possession of an offensive weapon. He now faces up to six months in prison. Yesterday Mr Davis said he was bewildered by the decision to prosecute him. He claims objects have been thrown at his house on 700 separate occasions. His windows have been smashed five times in eight months.

About time someone explained to him that he has no right to protect his property or family (that's society's job, not his) -- especially if it involves a potentially-lethal weapon, like a plank of wood! He also needs to understand that any kids who would hurl 700 objects at his house probably have legitimate, unmet needs. He should be ashamed: these sad kids need counseling, not more threats of violence. What an awful example this man set!

Also, now that the UK has gun control, I think we should move on to "plank control". How many Britons are killed each year by boards, sticks, batons, cricket bats, fence posts, and croquet mallets? At a minimum, we could introduce a modest licensing and registration scheme (which would undoubtedly be of great help in helping trace chunks of wood used in crime back to their original owners) and then gradually ratchet up the requirements.