Yeah definitely not your fault. No offense, but your family sounds rather moronic. :/ oh curiosity how did you realize and how did it go after you realized it was her?

You shouldn't have to pay stand up for yourself like you've been doing and don't let them try to guilt trip you

None taken, my family's pulled a lot of stupid pranks on eachother in the past, but this was the first major one on me, don't be surprised if you see any more FMLs like this from me on the future haha

Wow, glad it wasn't a real intruder but it sucks that they're trying to punish you for their badly-planned prank.

Your family are dicks. That's not even a prank, what if you had called the cops instead of checking it out yourself? Like wtf?

In response to 32 how it went down, she was facing me when it happened so I just wound back and struck her in the chest once, she immediately fell on her back as I'm guessing she wasn't expecting to be greeted by a bat, and I stepped forward, stomped a foot onto her chest to hold her there, and wound up again ready to take another hit while shouting to drop her weapons (keep in mind I thought this was a burglar). She was at that point crying that it was her, and it took a few seconds for me to calm down but we phoned the hospital and got her there ASAP. Probably not the best approach, as if it was a burglar and had a gun I could have been easily shot, this is again why it would have been a lot worse if it was my boyfriend as he easily would have not stopped there.

Yeah god forbid you don't sit down and have a cup of hot tea with them before beating them down mate. You were defending yourself because your family are a bunch of stupid blokes from the sound of it. Glad it wasn't an actual robber though.

Don't ever give in! It's not your fault and you were defending your house and home. In the dark and with your adrenaline pumping, there is almost no way you would've recognized your sister. Frankly, this is a good way to get ******* shot. Both she and your family are lucky it was only a bat you used. Pranks like this can literally be deadly.

good for you. stick to your guns here, you shouldn't have to pay those bills

Exactly what I thought, 46, and what I think every time I see one of those stupid pranks where people threaten strangers with a deadly weapon. I swear, one of these days someone is going to get killed doing that.

Don't give in. You can apologize for hurting your sister, if you want. But you were not wrong. She's just lucky she didn't get shot. A fractured rib can heal, hopefully your refusal to pay her medical bill doesn't fracture your relationship with your family.

Not your fault your sister and family are idiots.

So you live with your boyfriend, right? Again, evidence of a poorly planned prank, the whole thing was just a bad idea. What if he had been home? Aside from your sister possibly being further injured, that's not just you they're pranking. That's an invasion of privacy to both you AND your boyfriend regardless of who was home.

If your family was in on it, they are probably just trying to scapegoat you so they don't have to pay as much or feel guilty for their completely moronic idea. Don't give in; you are definitely not in the wrong.

I'm just thinking she's lucky you didn't try to defend yourself with a gun, it could've ended up much worse for her

You go OP! Don't let them bully you into paying for your sisters dumb ideas.

I'm 100% on your side. I think you're handling this great.they should be glad that you're not pressing charges on her for breaking in.

That's pretty awful. She definitely shouldn't have done it and you shouldn't be forced to pay her bills. However, I still think you should probably feel a little bad about seriously injuring your sibling.

Hell no 71. if my brother pulled a stunt like that on me. it would be his own damn fault. if it's dark you can't expect me to go nice on him and then feel sorry for him after the fact. the OP has no reason to feel guilty. i hope she shows her family the rest of the world's responses to show them how damn wrong there are.

I'm proud of you for standing your ground, OP! People don't generally ask a burglar who they are before whacking them and you're definitely not responsible for the damages that occured. Good luck!

Well I think they learned a valuable lesson not to mess with you.

Yeah I don't blame you at all. If that had been my house they might not have made it with some 38cal slugs in their chest. You definitely don't need to pay for anything. That was a terrible "prank"

Defend yourself??? She didn't attack, you did. Protection without threat is instigation. In most countries it is illegal to attack someone, even if they are on your property, without just cause, Stealing without threat is not just cause but being approached by an intruder in a threatening manner armed or not would be. Killing someone because they are stealing is never just and would be considered to be murder or manslaughter in most countries except apparently in the U.S. There are thousands and thousands of break in's throughout the world every day where the occupants hear the intruder, ring the cops etc without any interaction with the intruder at all. Most intruders are there just to steal something and leave or will run off when verbally challenged except in the U.S. There they want to steal and search for anyone at home to do them harm, or just to do them harm, Apparently. Just because you have the right to defend your property with deadly force doesn't mean that you have to, and to confront an intruder who is not threatening your person or any one else is just sheer stupidity.

Hold up, 98, so you're saying I shouldn't have defended myself? I didn't have a phone on or near me at the time, and as a child I was taught how to defend myself in situations. I was home alone, I was scared, so I acted in the manner I knew best and defended myself. As many here are saying, it is lucky that I did not have a lethal weapon, and shame on my sister and family for such a poorly thought out prank, but in my head I was thinking this was a burglar and I was not going to sit around and let them do whatever they cared. I did not attack without just cause, as you so say, because even though this was a prank it was a faux break-in, so I had just cause to defend myself. "Just because you have the right to defend your property doesn't mean you have to" in this case that this was your property and this was a real burglar and you were in my situation what exactly would you do? I admit my confrontation with her if she was a true burglar would have been stupid but I felt I didn't have time to stop and think, in my mind I defended myself and my property and I will not say it was unjustly even if it was my sister. I'm refusing to pay not because I hate my family or whatever cause you may think but because I don't have money to go flinging around at stupid pranks my family play, but I would be happy to help my sister in any way I can during her recovery.

#98, breaking into someone's house IS threat. Attacking someone who has broken into your house IS just cause. There is no such thing as "stealing without threat." Breaking into someone's house in the middle of the night IS a threat. Any country that would charge you for manslaughter for defending yourself in your own house after someone broke in is terrifying and idiotic. Why? Let's examine this. You say "MOST intruders are there to steal." Okay, cool. Now, how do I know the intruder standing in my living room is MOST? How do I know they're not there to rape and murder too? Intruders don't wear labels declaring their intentions. I have no idea why that intruder is there, what he/she wants, and how far they're willing to go to steal or protect their identity. If you break into my house, I assume the worst and you're taking your own life in your hands. Which means I think you're here to kill me so I'm killing you first. Because I don't give a shit if you just want the TV, I don't know that and I'm not waiting for you to shoot or attack me first. Also, in many places in the US, police response time can be quite lengthy. A lot can happen in the 20+ wait time. The police don't magically appear the second you call them, especially in rural areas. The long and short of it is if you don't want to get beaten, shot, or die, don't break into a house and scare the homeowner. I promise, its a REALLy easy rule to follow. I have no sympathy for anyone who breaks it.

She got what she deserved. Tell the family to piss off and grow up.

I totally agree with you, you don't take the chance of getting raped or killed when someone breaks into your house. That was a dumb idea for a prank. I'm not a lawyer, but I did take a few law courses. And if I remember correctly this falls under the "reasonable person" defense. You were in a situation where a reasonable person would believe themselvea to be in danger, and reacted accordingly. All fault falls to your sister. Stand your ground hun.

As I said it is not necessary to confront the intruder if you don't have to. If they are in another room and don't know your there why would you go looking for them?? What would you do then? Hide, leave, anything you can to get away. But if you are unable to and have no choice but to confront the intruder, fine then do so. It is a sad reflection that in the U.S it appears that most intruders are armed, (guns), elsewhere the vast majority are not and are only interested in stealing something. In your particular case you could have possibly been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm which can carry a term of maximum 5 yrs imprisonment despite the fact that the victim was an intruder. Although being charged in this particular case is unlikely. By the way the country here is Australia, however there are lots of other countries with similar laws, "common law" inherited from Britain. For those of you who are thinking what a dangerous country this must be, not so. The incidence of home owners being attacked by intruders other than specific home invasions by multiple individuals is virtually non existent. The same with holdups, very few people are ever injured in the commission of most crimes. The view is taken that defense of life is paramount and any reasonable steps be taken to do so. Property is replaceable and not worth the risk.

I have family that live in Australia and I know for a fact they didn't get charged when they seriously hurt an intruder. I don't know where you are digging your "facts" from, but they seem rather false to me.

You know, #111, I'm really just not seeing your point behind your constantly contradicting arguments. You say that most intruders are there just to steal, so wouldn't they check every room in the house? You go to hide, they find a locked door or a closet and think, "Hey, something good must be in here," and find you. It's not a matter of if you must confront an intruder, it's really when. I'd rather confront the scumbag breaking into my house with the element of surprise on my side than just sit in a closet and hope he doesn't attack me when he finds me. Another thing you keep trying to do is paint the United States in a bad light. I'm not really sure how defending your home and self is really a bad thing(albeit this time it was just a prank). You say that all burglars apparently have guns in the U.S, and you're probably right because people breaking the law typically don't want to face a pissed off, adrenalin pumped homeowner unarmed. OP was completely in the right here, it was defense of home and health. This doesn't make the United States look bad, at all. If you think OP or any home defender should be charged with assault or manslaughter, I'd just like to see how well hiding works for you if someone breaks into your house.

just stop

I'm 100% sure that almost anywhere in the world that if an intruder breaks into your home at night for whatever reason, you have the right the defend yourself AND your property as the act of breaking into someone's home is already a threat as the intruder is there to commit crimes

more like if you had a gun your sister could have been shot. kinda like at my house, I'd greet the intruder with an ar-15 and one bright flashlight (900 lumens).

#98, the problem is you do not know WHY someone is breaking into your house. they might just steal your TV and leave... or they might be a pedophile and take me daughter, or a rapist and attack me, or a hitman (highly unlikely but still possible), or a drug addict which are known to be very violent when going through withdrawals and in the process of calling the cops they will most likely hear you talking and come for you. If you wanna hide in your closet where you have nowhere to run, be my guest, but if I have the chance to get the drop on them and surprise them I will to protect my family. Being from good old "'merica" has nothing to do with it. From what you're saying if both of us were in the same situation and someone broke into our houses, my intruder will have a chestful of 16 guard birdshot, will most likely survive but be incapacitated and I will be able to safely wait for the police. You, on the other hand, will be hiding in your closet and hope the intruder isn't in there to attack you and is just a burglar and not something worse, problem is, you have absolutely no way of knowing their intent. Good luck

Sounds like your sister is lucky you swung for her chest rather than her head.

At least you used a bat, most of the more "gun friendly" Americans keep a loaded 12 gauge within arms reach of their bed. Nothing scarier to a burglar than the "clack-thunk" of pumping a shell into battery.

it was just a fractured rib XD

it's called a bat. it's not going to just leave a bruise on her ribs.

There is a certain something to the sound of a shotgun being chambered that makes people very attentive.

I couldn't agree more.

Ding ding ding! You won a fractured rib!

Amen to that, 70. Who decided to replace good, classic pranks like Saran Wrap on a doorframe or taping an airhorn under a desk chair with these crappy, "BREAKING INTO HOUSE PRANK 2016 | GONE WRONG"?

Me too. This is a stupid dangerous prank. Although I live in a nice neighborhood, it's right in town and I've had run ins with many tweakers and drunks, not logical people and certainly not always safe. I apologize to no one for my weapons. My life and the life of my kids are too important to me to leave it to 911.