Driving home from Guildford, and when stopping off to get petrol - assualted by 4 guys - pepper spray legal?

Question

Is it legal for me to use pepper spray in this situation? He was telling me to open the door or window and also threatening to smash my windows - i didn't open them.

Answer 1

I remember Guidlford as being a leafy village which we passed through to the coast and where sometimes we stopped and watched the cricket on the green. Oh those halcyon days of only 40 years ago.

Sounds more like h**l days now.

I'm sorry to say that it is illegal to defend yourself using such deterrants as pepper spray or anything else it would seem.  

Answer 2

Even if it's illegal to carry pepper spray, which would you rather have - beaten up severely by four guys or end up in court with a small fine for carrying spray? Sometimes you have to take the law into your own hands in order to survive.

Answer 3

It is an offence under the Firearms Act to carry pepper spray unless you are a police officer (I read that the police in North Wales had been issued with pepper sprays as an alternative to tear gas canisters). If you had been caught applying the pepper spray, things could have turned out rather badly for you. I think, however, that most of us would sympathise with you on a personal level in the circumstances.

Answer 4

Pepper sprays are illegal in England. This said, they are illegal where I live also, but I have one in my bag at all times. If I am out walking on my own I put it in my pocket. The thought of being assaulted and the psychological consequences afterwards, apart from the physical ones,

frighten me.I know I wouldn't be able to cope and would probably never go out alone again. I therefore prefer to arm myself. Hang the legal consequences, I prefer to stand a chance against any potential aggressors. My two sons have both been attacked several times and it was my son who gave me the pepper spray. Hopefully I will never have to use it but I wouldn't hesitate. Coping with the consequences of an aggression can be life-long.

Answer 5

Pepper spray and mace are illegal in the UK, and owning them can land you in court charged with possession of an illegal firearm.

EDIT - possession of a firearm is not a trifling matter likely to get you a small fine, it is likely to see you go to jail for upto 10 years, and at least for 5.

Answer 6

carrying the spray indicates your itent to use it which is ilegal, that said, who cares. i would rather survive an attack and live to face the charge for using the pepper spray. what ever sentence imposed on me would not be worse than being beaten to a pulp by a load of yobbos.

Answer 7

F*ck pepper spray- I'd have run the b8stards over.  

Answer 8

Reasaonable force used against a theat in the US would be legal in most states; in the others, they might take away the spray can.

Answer 9

Pepper spray is illegal for civilians but there is a legal alternative that stains the skin green, (I think it also stings the eyes a bit too) called DyeWITNESS.

I know Guildford well, if your not beaten up at the petrol station your card is cloned.

Answer 10

If your primary concern in such a situation is in obeying the law, you are a natural born victim.  Don't bother taking steps to prepare to defend yourself, they aren't going to help you when you need them anyway.  

Contemplate the following sentence:

It is better to be tried by twelve than carried by six.

If you find that you agree with it, you may be ready to prepare your defense against such situations, possibly including pepper spray.

s***w the law if it interferes with your ability to defend yourself.  

Answer 11

the only fully legal self defence item you can carry in the uk is a personal alarm.

but there is nothing to say you cant keep your wheel brace in the car and the courts wouldn't really say anything much as you were defending yourself against four attackers.

Answer 12

Whereabouts are you in the world?

Note: Yes, pepper spray is illegal but there are some 'watered down' alternatives, which an answer below mine outlines. Bear in mind, though, that when you're sat in your car you are in fact in command of a quarter of a ton of rolling deterrent!