home invasion
Break-in at a residence while occupants are present — not a term in Danish law
A home invasion is a break-in at a residence committed while occupants or other persons are present, typically with the aim of committing a further offence such as assault, robbery or homicide. The term is used in international criminal-law and legal contexts; it is not part of Danish law and does not appear in Danish legislation under this name, but it is widely used in Anglo-American and international legal terminology as well as in criminological and journalistic language.
The concept is not applied uniformly across jurisdictions. In some countries, including several US states, home invasion is a distinct criminal offence carrying enhanced sentencing ranges. In other jurisdictions it is treated as an aggravating circumstance attached to burglary or robbery — for example under the heading home-invasion robbery — rather than as a separate category of crime.
The central element distinguishing a home invasion from an ordinary burglary is the presence of the occupant. A classic burglary is typically committed when the property is unoccupied; a home invasion, by contrast, presupposes that the perpetrator either knew or must have realised that people were in the home at the time of the offence. This is the element that justifies the enhanced criminal consequences in those jurisdictions that recognise the concept.
In connection with the case of Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night Stalker, the term is used of the brutal attacks he committed in California in 1984–1985, in which he entered people's homes at night and assaulted, raped or killed the occupants. These acts are paradigmatic examples of home invasion in its most serious form. In Danish the concept is best rendered as voldeligt hjemmeindbrud or indbrud med overfald i beboelse.
