know the law & beat the b*****ds

[stevierst]

Stevie....so all them signs on premises saying trespass is illegal/against the law etc are bollox?
if someone is trespassing on my property and won't leave, do I have the right to forcibly throw them off or am I guilty of assault?

cheers

The signs normally say 'tresspassers will be prosecuted'. They mean just that, but it's a civil prosecution, not one for the criminal courts.

There's a few 'crimes' that conjoin with tresspass, such as burglary, tresspass with a firearm etc. The only one where the cops get involved is removing people to prevent a breach of the peace or any criminality.

You can use 'reasonable force' to remove people from your property, but it has to be  proportionate, and reasonable. It's certainly a very fine line, and one that the courts play with quite a lot.
If in doubt, let the cops sort it out!