Rainboe, I was only thinking of Gurkhas because they tend to be small and are expert with their blades. Not someone you'd want to meet on a dark night in a confined space unless you knew he was on your side and that he knew you were. I agree with your mistreatment comments.
As for completely closing the space, I don't know how much movement there is in gear struts during normal operation - I assume they flex a bit on landing and that's why there's clearance space around them (quite apart from any shaping required to allow for the door movement). The trick is to close the gaps in a way that allows for that movement and that isn't easily displaced by someone attempting to climb in.