---

@**caution**opinion_ahead wrote:

---

@upthecreekyetagain wrote:

The court accepted that OP thought it was an intruder in the bathroom - that's why the decision was not one of murder.

 

---

Indeed.  And 5 yrs is a reasonable term for manslaughter in these cirs. 

 

But your presumption that some of us would want a person who shot an actual intruder, who was armed and not alone, jailed for the same term or longer is unreasonable as the two situations are not comparable.  One involved perceived menace (at best), the other actual.  One involved an innocent unarmed bystander getting killed, the other would involve the death of an armed intruder.

---

I think you are missing the point - OP took preemptive action in order not to end up in the situation that Senzo Meyiwa found himself in.

Presumably if SM had been in a position to do so and had shot the intruders before they were in a position to pose a real threat he would have faced a manslaughter charge as well.

Precisely what I originally posted and you appeared to take exception to.

". . . . . . and if Senzo Meyiwa had shot the intruders through a door he'd have probably got 5 years with some demanding a tougher sentence!"

In the case of OP it ended in the tragic death of his girlfriend, in the case of SM it would have saved his life.