The case prompted renewed debate over the level of force that home owners can use against raiders.
Munir Hussain, chairman of the Asian Business Council, was praised by a judge for his courage in defending his wife and three children from an attack but then jailed for the violence of his response.
One of his attackers was spared a jail sentence.
The incident occurred when the Hussain family returned from their mosque during Ramadan to find three intruders wearing ski masks in their home.
Hussain was told that he would be killed.
His familys hands were tied behind their backs and they were forced to crawl from room to room.
Hussain, 53, escaped after throwing a coffee table and getting his brother Tokeer, 35, to help chase offenders down the street, bringing one of them to the ground. What followed was described in Reading Crown Court as self-defence that went too far.
Walid Salem, one of the intruders, suffered a permanent brain injury after he was struck with a cricket bat so hard that it broke into three pieces.
Neighbours saw several men beating Salem with weapons, including a metal pole.
My comments - this really annoys me. If your threatened and told that you will doe you should be allowed to use as much violence as you want. Why can you defend yourself in somestates in america with a gun, but here if you hit someone with a bar you go to jail for 30 months. what a joke!!!
