".....If someone hits you in the head then reasonable force is to make sure they can’t do it again as you have no idea what they may have planned to do next!....."
In this specific case, the kid stepped back from Anning and was no longer a threat, which makes what followed not reasonable force.
I have physically apprehend people previously, and even had one accuse me of using excessive force, (the police disagreed). But if I had of slapped them in the face a couple of times and had a few mates tackle him to the ground in a headlock, when there was no longer a threat, I'm pretty sure the police and courts would have deemed it excessive force.
If it was a 17 year old girl or an elderly grandmother, would you still think it was reasonable force.
The law gives you protection to protect yourself, it does not give you protection to retaliate.
