Cleared: The father who killed his drunken neighbour after mistaking him for a burglar

Edwin Pitkin was told yesterday that he would not go to court over the fatal stabbing of 32-year-old Mark Woods.

Mr Woods had been on a 12-hour drink and drugs binge before he tried to break into Mr Pitkin's home in Enfield, North London, after confusing it with his own house four doors away.

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Free to go: Mark Woods was drunk when he mistakenly tried to enter Edwin Pitkin's home

Mr Pitkin, 58, ran downstairs and armed himself with a kitchen knife to repel the intruder, whom he thought was a burglar.

A scuffle broke out as Mr Woods, a forklift truck driver, continued to try to enter the house - believing he was being stopped from getting into his own

home. Mr Pitkin told police that Mr Woods had threatened to stab him in the eyes using a bunch of keys held between the fingers of his clenched fist, and that he responded by stabbing him. The wound pierced Mr Woods's heart.

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Mix-up: Mark Woods was drunk after his birthday celebrations and went to the wrong house

The keys were later found in the dead man's clenched hand.

Mr Pitkin, a building contractor who was described by neighbours as 'quiet and friendly', was arrested and questioned over the death on February 29.

His solicitor Steve Law described it as a tragic incident and said that Mr Pitkin, his wife Thelma and his children Samantha, 27, and Leon, 25, were distraught.

The case sparked fresh debate over the extent to which householders should be legally allowed to defend themselves. The Crown Prosecution Service yesterday announced that Mr Pitkin would not be charged because there was no proof he had acted unlawfully.

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It added that householders are entitled to use 'reasonable force' in self-defence when facing an intruder.

The CPS said that Mr Pitkin's account of what happened that night - and the absence of any forensic or other evidence to contradict it - indicated that he was in genuine fear for his life.

Rene Barclay of the CPS added: 'A person is entitled to use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances for the purpose of self-defence.'

The ruling will be welcomed by campaigners who argue in favour of the right to fight back against burglars.