Crime can bring out the dark side in all of us

There's a memorable scene in Guy Ritchie's film 'Snatch' where Vinnie Jones' character jams a man's head in the window of his car and starts to drive off. The hapless victim is forced to run faster and faster as the car accelerates before he is unceremoniously released and collapses onto the road. I imagine that's what I'd like to do if I was carjacked.

But this is just a fantasy and my reaction to such a traumatic event may not be as swift or dramatic as in the movies. In reality, would I drive off with a dangerous criminal still attached to my car, hearing him plead for mercy as I put the foot down? The honest answer is probably not.

•How would we react if confronted by a drug-crazed intruder in our home? FILE PHOTO

But that's what happens in society when we are faced with new forms of criminality. Fear can bring out the worst in us and put dark thoughts in our heads.

Just look at Ryan Tubridy's out of character reaction when he recently interviewed a self-confessed domestic abuser on his radio show. RTE's golden boy is not the type of person you'd normally associate with violence but you could forgive his lack of restraint when he told the cowardly thug that he would have broken his legs had he subjected his loved ones to such abuse. Quite frankly, I've a whole new respect for Ryan Tubridy. It was an honest response to being confronted with a firsthand account of this monster's history of violence against his wife. I doubt Tubridy would ever follow up on such a threat but I can understand his thought process.

Most people don't have a natural propensity for violence but do possess a primal urge to protect their families. How would you respond if confronted by a drug-crazed intruder inside your home while your children slept close by? Would you be paralysed by fear or would your survival instinct kick in? It's impossible to know whether you would meet violence with violence unless you were actually in that situation.

I personally believe that burglars' human rights are diluted as soon as they illegally cross the threshold of a property, but I also realise that it is morally wrong to physically harm another human being. That's what separates most decent, law-abiding members of the community from low-life criminals and petty thugs.

While media reports of aggravated burglaries and carjackings can feed into our insecurities, it is important that we don't get caught up in the hysteria generated by these events. Such incidents - while disturbing and horrific experiences for the victims - are still relatively rare in this country and there is no evidence yet that we are facing a carjacking epidemic similar to the one that plagued post-apartheid South Africa. I'd like to think we're someway off from having our vehicles modified to include extreme anti-theft devices such as flamethrowers or Tasers.

As with most forms of crime, the most effective deterrent to would-be carjackers is prevention. By adopting a commonsense approach - such as keeping valuables out of sight and making sure your car doors are locked at all times - drivers can help avoid becoming the next victim.