THE NEW guidelines from Director of Public Prosections Barbara Mills advising police that people who use "reasonable force" to protect their property from intruders should not be charged will chime with the public's notion of natural justice.

It is, after all, galling to see instances where the burglar gets compensation and the victim of the crime being, in effect, the one in the dock.

That said, there should be no licence for the trigger-happy, shotgun-toting householder to blaze away with impunity.

That could put the law in unsafe hands in many instances - encouraging not only a confrontational vigilante culture in come communities but also the shoot-first outlook that makes America such an unsafe place.

A welcome step, then, and let the burglar beware.

But there remains a need for vigilance on what is "reasonable."

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