Tories now want us to slap hoodies, not hug them

There’s an article in the Guardian/Observer today about the Tories who apparently are “demanding the right for citizens to tackle teenage yobs physically”.

I do understand what they’re trying to do – they basically want to reassure good citizens that’s it’s OK to step in and help old ladies attacked by happy slappers, even if it involves slapping one or two of them.

However, what on earth would the law say? That it’s OK to attack any group of people aged between 13 and 20? If so, how do you find out if they’re in the right age bracket? Do they need to appear violent/threatening? If so, how do you prove it? Do you have to be of a certain age to tackle them? Or can two teenage yobs use this law to fight each other without risk of prosecution? At least if they each adopt mascot grannies? And what if people are severely beaten up after attacking some teenagers? Can they claim compensation from the teenagers? And what if the good citizen ends up killing a teenager? Will that be OK too? Even if the citizen used a shotgun?