Victims back deadly-force law as crime toll mounts

On November 26, the Home Invasion (Self-Defence and Defence of Property) Bill 2025 was passed in the Lower House without Opposition support and now heads to the Senate for debate.

Once approved, the bill will legally empower homeowners to use deadly force to confront intruders once they unlawfully break into a private residence, provided the force used is not disproportionate.

Apart from empowering homeowners to use deadly force, any person found guilty of home invasion will face a fine between $500,000 and $750,000 and between 20 to 25 years’ imprisonment, depending on the crime.

The legislation had been part of the United National Congress’s major campaign promises, but the Opposition People’s National Movement is warning against possible abuse of power and racial profiling.

The bill is meant to empower victims of crime, so Guardian Media’s Investigations Desk canvassed their views on whether they would now feel better protected.

JOSHUA SEEMUNGAL and SHALIZA HASSANALI

On three occasions, pig farmer Wayne Bowen has endured the wrath of armed criminals who invaded his home, terrorised and tormented his family, and stole cash and valuables.

During the last home invasion in May 2022, Bowen was hogtied, beaten with a stainless steel pot and then set afire by three armed men inside their Cumuto Road, Wallerfield home, while his wife, Maria, begged his attackers to spare his life.

Bowen remembered hearing his wife’s muffled cries in the living room as she watched the men spray his body with insecticide and light the hem of his green coverall.

As flames crawled up Bowen’s legs, the men made off with $5,500 in cash and a gold ring.

With his hands tied behind his back, Bowen, 72, tried to roll on the ground to extinguish the flames engulfing the lower part of his coverall.

He remembered saying Psalm 23 as his life flashed before his eyes.

Bowen said God intervened at that point as the flames miraculously extinguished on their own.

“It wasn’t my time to go. God had other plans for me.”

The father of two suffered slight burns on his legs and had to seek medical attention.

Just two weeks earlier, a gang of gunmen smashed his window panes to enter his home.

Bowen called the police for help. The officer who answered the phone hung up on him.

“It was back-to-back robberies days apart. These criminals were marking me. I had become a target because of my farm and business,” Bowen recalled.

After those two robberies, they fled their home.

But the home invasion that brought Bowen to his knees was in 1997, when a bandit held a gun to his weeping eight-year-old daughter’s head, threatening to shoot her if he did not hand over his cash.

The $15,000 Bowen had earned that day selling pigs was surrendered to the thief.

“I try not to think about that home invasion. My daughter could have been killed because this man was behaving erratically with the gun aimed at her head. I had to calm him down and direct him where the money was.”

Police never arrested or charged anyone for the robberies.

When Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar posted on X on Thursday that the Home Invasion (Self-Defence and Defence of Property) Bill 2025 was passed in the House of Representatives, it brought joy to Bowen’s heart.

The PM said the legislation places the rights of citizens first and sends a clear message that attacks on homes will not be tolerated.

A total of 23 Government members voted in favour, while ten members of the PNM voted against.

“I supported the bill even before it was passed in Parliament,” Bowen said in a telephone interview hours after the PM’s post.

“Who wants to condemn the bill… that is them. Probably they have armed security officers to protect them. Who want to vex could vex. I support it as a victim of three home invasions,” he insisted.

“It was one of the best things this new Government could have done. People have a right to defend themselves in their home from criminals who have been taking advantage of innocent, law-abiding citizens. The police can’t be everywhere at the same time.”

Bowen said if he had a firearm user’s licence when the thieves were smashing his windows, “I would have dealt with it as it unfolded.”

Asked if having a licensed gun might have made a difference during the robberies, Bowen replied, “Hell, yes. I would have opened the door for them.”

With the passage of the bill, Bowen said he is considering applying for a firearm.

“Applying in the past was too stressful and frustrating. People were not getting through.”

Bowen said coming face-to-face with armed criminals in the sanctuary of his home left his family shattered.

“Day and night, my wife is always uneasy. She can’t forget how these bandits beat me and then set me on fire. I don’t think she will ever recover from those home invasions. It still worries her.”

To this day, he said, his family lives in fear. “You can’t feel safe anywhere.”

Bowen said he was not an isolated case.

“It have hundreds… if not thousands of people who were victims like us… and I don’t think they will ever recover from that. We certainly have not recovered from those past experiences. It will haunt us to our graves.”

Others, he said, were killed in their homes, and these murderers are still roaming the streets seeking their next victim.

He said society has to deal with cold, heartless and callous criminals who show no regard for life, and people can now protect themselves and their properties.

The farmer, however, felt that the penalties in the bill were too minimal.

The penalty for using or threatening violence—causing injury, death or sexual assault—is $500,000 and up to 20 years’ imprisonment.

When the act is linked to organised crime or committed in the presence of vulnerable people such as children, the elderly or the disabled, the offender can face a fine of $750,000 or 25 years’ imprisonment.

“These penalties are too lenient. The Government should have enforced draconian measures to deal with these criminals. Give them life in jail.”

A burglary/break-in every six hours

For 2025, up until last Monday, there were 1,169 reported burglaries and break-ins—an average of one reported incident every seven hours.

For every five burglaries/break-ins in Trinidad and Tobago between January 2023 and September 2025, one is detected by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, meaning that 80 per cent of the crimes do not potentially lead to an arrest.

In 2023, 315 out of 1,677 burglaries/break-ins were detected; in 2024, 300 out of 1,613; while in 2025, up to September, 219 out of 971 were detected.

The Judiciary has not issued an annual report since 2021 (during COVID-19).

According to the Judiciary’s 2021 report, there were three matters of robbery with violence determined in the 2020–2021 law term. Two of the cases were 15 years or older, while the other was between five and ten years old.

Between 2014 and 2018, there were 96 criminal indictments filed in the category of “other”, which included larceny, robbery, corruption and other matters not yet classified.

The police division with the most reported burglaries/break-ins (compared to population) was not in Trinidad but in Tobago, with 178—approximately 15 per cent of all reported incidents.

According to 2011 census data, Tobago has an approximate population of 60,735, meaning the island averaged one burglary or break-in for every 341 residents.

The division with the second-highest number of reported incidents was the Central Division, with 169 (14 per cent). This division includes Chaguanas, Couva, Caroni, Cunupia, Freeport, Gran Couva, Las Lomas, Longdenville and Brasso.

Chaguanas is considered the country’s most populous city, with approximately 83,516 residents. The combined approximate population of Couva, Cunupia, Freeport, Gran Couva, Las Lomas and Brasso Seco is around 87,500.

Using these areas, the Central Division averages one burglary/break-in for every 1,011 residents.

The Northern Division accounts for the third-highest number of burglaries/break-ins, with 147. It includes Arima, Cumuto, La Horquetta, Malabar, Maloney and San Raphael. According to the 2011 Census, the total population of those areas is 78,127, averaging one burglary/break-in for every 531 residents.

The three divisions with the lowest number of reported incidents were the Eastern Division with 78, the North Eastern Division with 76 and the Western Division with 64.

Widespread support for the Bill

Guardian Media spoke with three victims of home invasions, all of whom supported the Home Invasion (Self-Defence and Defence of Property) Bill 2025.

The victims asked not to be identified out of concern for their safety.

The first victim, a female from Aranguez, called the bill’s passage “a good move”.

“Yeah, because when I was in that position, I saw six men running out of my house, and if I had a gun at the time, I could have at least shot two. I was behind the window, you see men coming downstairs. You don’t know who they killed upstairs or what they did upstairs… I tell Roger Alexander that. If I had a gun, I could have shot them, because they were coming down one by one.

“I would be willing to pursue the process to get a legal firearm. The dogs I had, I changed them too… Every time I see something strange, I am always watching to see what they are doing. It is always there. It can’t leave.”

The second victim, a male from south Trinidad, agreed.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing. One hundred per cent. It get rampant, and criminals realise they have the rights, and when they go to jail, they get three meals and juice and mauby. Let them feel it.

“The law before was that you could not defend yourself properly, even though you were a licensed firearm holder, because the criminals basically have the rights. Because your life had to be in danger. So you basically had to wait for a man to point a gun at you before you could shoot in self-defence. That was foolishness.”

The licensed firearm owner, however, believes a public education campaign is essential.

“A lot of licensed firearm owners don’t know the laws also… Definitely, you must have education behind this law, because people may feel they could shoot a man and pull him into the yard. Rum is a hell of a thing… There are a lot of limits. People need to know the laws.”

(BOX)

Laws

A July 2025 Law Reform Commission document noted that T&T already had laws addressing self-defence related to manslaughter, trespass, robbery, burglary and housebreaking.

The Offences Against the Person Act provided for “excusable homicide”, stating that “No punishment shall be incurred by any person who kills another person by misfortune or in his own defence, or in any other manner without criminality”.

The Criminal Law Act permitted a person to use reasonable force, inter alia, in the prevention of crime.

The Trespass Act prohibited trespass, forcible entry and forcible detainer, and allowed the setting of “spring-guns and man-traps” from sunset to sunrise to protect dwelling houses, but did not address elements specific to home invasion.

The Larceny Act provided for larceny in dwelling houses; robbery; burglary; housebreaking and committing an arrestable offence; housebreaking with intent; and being found by night armed or in possession of housebreaking implements. However, it did not cover the unique elements of home invasion or clearly define self-defence provisions.

Despite these laws, the Commission found that Trinidad and Tobago had no dedicated home invasion law, and TTPS data did not list home invasion as a separate crime category.

Recent deadly home invasions

November 2025 – Shaffeak and Babita Vialva were murdered during a home invasion in Penal.

October 2025 – 48-year-old mother, Gracelyn Ramberan, and her 25-year-old son, Randy Rampersad, were shot dead during a home invasion in Ste Madeleine.

August 2025 – A 38-year-old man was killed during a home invasion in Chaguanas.

February 2025 – 64-year-old Durpatee Chance was murdered during a break-in in Moruga.

January 2025 – A 79-year-old contractor was killed during a Toco break-in.

January 2025 – A married couple in their 60s, Nasheed and Kumari Baksh, were murdered during a Cumuto home invasion.

December 2024 – 68-year-old Amina Mohammed was stabbed to death in a Couva home invasion.

October 2024 – Elderly man Ronald Ramjag was murdered by intruders during a Maracas home invasion.

October 2024 – 65-year-old pundit Ramesh Maharaj was stabbed to death during a Sangre Grande home invasion.

July 2024 – A bandit was shot dead by a licensed firearm owner during a home invasion in Charlieville.

July 2024 – 27-year-old Cristopher Christian was killed in a Carlsen Field home invasion.

June 2024 – 59-year-old Stephen Sookhan was stabbed to death in Chaguanas.

June 2024 – 37-year-old Alan Babwah was killed during a Couva home invasion.

April 2024 – 58-year-old Aquie Persad was murdered during a Cunupia home invasion.

January 2024 – Businessman Richard Ramkissoon died from injuries sustained during a D’Abadie home invasion.

November 2023 – 23-year-old Tafari Charles was killed by intruders in Petit Valley.

September 2023 – A bandit was shot dead by a 63-year-old FUL holder during a St Augustine home invasion.

August 2023 – An intruder was fatally shot by a female homeowner during a break-in in Chaguanas.

August 2023 – A 33-year-old Central Bank employee was shot dead during a Carapichaima home invasion.

June 2023 – 27-year-old Gabre Mahabir was shot dead, while his wife and daughter were held at gunpoint, during a Penal home invasion.

May 2023 – Asha George and Deveon Drayton were murdered during a home invasion in Claxton Bay.

March 2023 – 33-year-old farmer Ganesh Deopersad was shot dead after multiple men broke into his Tortuga home.

December 2022 – Art gallery owner Mark Pereira was shot dead in a home invasion at his Blanchisseuse beach house.

October 2022 – Police kill four armed bandits after they attempted to rob a Mayaro family in their home.

July 2022 – A businessman shot and killed two bandits during a San Juan home invasion.

February 2022 – Businesswoman Nicole Moses was killed after being shot by armed men who attempted to break into her Westmoorings home. The two assailants were shot dead by Moses’s relative, an FUL holder.

January 2021 – A homeowner shot a home invader dead in Freeport.