[user104658]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

If I'm being totally honest I think I'd be more inclined to swing a little more towards it being an OK thing to do had he been a younger, stronger looking man, rather than an older, frail looking guy. Not sure if that's being a bit biased or maybe then it would seem more like self defense because there would have been more of a threat (psychically) to the two men? hhmmm

I agree and not just because of him being more of a threat, I think people (in not wanting to offend older people maybe?) really underestimate how much the human body declines past 60. You can see it quite visibly in this video - massive contusion appears on the side of his head in minutes, from a punch that wasn't even that hard, and would most likely not even put a mark on a 40 year old. The bones and blood vessels of a 70 year old are not robust. If you punch a 40 year old you're probably going to cause a black eye or a bust nose (note: you CAN still do a lot more damage accidentally so it's st5ill not a great idea). If you punch a 70 year old in the head... you're at serious risk of causing a skull fracture or bleed on the brain. There's a reason that "having a fall" is a much more serious thing when you're past a certain age.

Again even if you want to take the old guy out of the equation completely in terms of caring what happens: There isn't a judge in the world who is going to hear that a 30 year old punched a 70 year old in the head and caused a brain haemorrhage that resulted in death - for ANY reason other than to stop a real, immediate, active threat to themselves or others - and not have it result in the person throwing the punch going to jail on a manslaughter charge. Not worth it, stupid idea, stupid and reckless action.

And no, before we start pretending again, this weak-arse 70 year old bloke throwing his boney little hands around does not constitute a real or active threat.