Difficult
Before I start this, I'll admit: I'm a self-confessed, bleeding-heart, woosy liberal. Please therefore read my next set of comments with that in mind.

The actions of Messrs Hussain are not difficult to understand. They believed that they were acting in self-defence having been burgled and having had their homes invaded: this reminds me of a case some years ago of a Scotsman in Texas who, having gotten drunk, knocked on someones' door in the middle of the night and was shot and killed - and the Texan legal system allowed the man who killed him off without any form of reprimand. But I digress.

However, their actions in of Mr Hussain, the force necessary to break a cricket bat into three pieces must be fairly extreme(any engineers here?) and causing permanent brain damage to anyone - even a burglar - cannot go unpunished.

I fear that Messrs Hussain will serve their sentences under something of a cloud of media attention and be released at the end to attempt to rebuild their lives, destroyed by their actions in seeking to defend themselves.
(Medical_Male Say aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:22, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

The key is...
...was he seeking to defend himself or dish out vigilante justice?
(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:26, Reply)

I'm a civil engineer
I don't know how much force it takes to break a cricket bat though. nor do I know the mechanical properties of willow.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:27, Reply)

You're a pretty shit civil engineer then.

(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:33, Reply)

on my way to chartership thanks
only reason I'm on the office on a bloody day off is because I have to meet with someone about it.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:37, Reply)

You know fuck all about cricket bats...

(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:38, Reply)

and that's how it will stay
I fucking hate cricket
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:39, Reply)

You have to meet someone about the breaking point of a cricket bat?
That's pretty coincidental.
( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 12:09, Reply)

but if a bat
can withstand the sustained onslaught of a fast-bowler, it must have been swung pretty fucking hard.

I reckon he missed and struck the floor, and it is that which broke the bat.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:33, Reply)

One would think if he'd broken the bat over his head he'd be dead.

( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:35, Reply)

I'd say so
to break something in 2 places would take a lot more force than breaking it in one
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:36, Reply)

Not necessarily
It all depends on the physical characteristics of the material.

Spaghetti is a good example. Take a piece of raw spaghetti and hold it at each end. Now bend it until it breaks. You'll find that most if the time it breaks in two places, not just one.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 11:59, Reply)

That's because it breaks in one place first
and then the tension on the longer part causes it to whip upwards with enough force to break it again.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 12:16, Reply)