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Anthony Edward "Tony" Martin (born 1944) is a farmer from Norfolk, UK, who in 1999 killed one burglar and wounded another who had both entered his home. He was convicted of murder, replaced with manslaughter on appeal.
This is the story of what happened.
In 1999, Martin was alone at his farmhouse in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, nicknamed Bleak House. He had been burgled a total of ten times, losing £6,000 worth of furniture. Martin also complained about police inaction over the burglaries. The police reports state that multiple items and furniture were stolen such as dinnerware and a grandfather clock.
On the night of 20 August 1999, two burglars -- Brendon Fearon, 29, and Fred Barras 16 -- broke into Martin's house. When confronted, they attempted to flee through a window. Shooting downwards in the dark, with a pump-action Winchester shotgun he owned illegally, Fearon was hit in the leg, and Barras in the back. Barras escaped through the window but died at the scene.
On 10 January 2000, Fearon and Darren Bark, 33 (who had acted as the getaway driver), both from Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, admitted to conspiring to burgle Martin's farmhouse. Fearon was sentenced to three years in prison, and Bark to 30 months. Fearon was released on 10 August 2001.
Fred Barras, the dead youth, had accumulated a lengthy criminal record, having been arrested 29 times by the time of his death at the age of 16, and had been sentenced to two months in a young offenders' institution for assaulting a policeman, theft and being drunk and disorderly. On the night he was killed, the teenager had just been released on bail after being accused of stealing garden furniture. Barras' grandmother, Mary Dolan, stated: "It's not fair that the farmer has got all the money and he is the one that took Fred away."
On 23 August 1999, Martin was charged with the murder of Barras, the attempted murder of Fearon, "wounding with intent to cause injury" to Fearon, and "possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life".
English law permits one person to kill another in self defence only if the person defending him or herself uses no more than "reasonable force"; it is the responsibility of the jury to determine whether or not an unreasonable amount of force was used. The jury at the trial were told that they had the option of returning a verdict of manslaughter rather than murder, if they thought that Martin "did not intend to kill or cause serious bodily harm". However, the jurors found Martin guilty of murder by a 10 to 2 majority.
He was sentenced to life in prison, the mandatory sentence for murder under English law.
An appeal was considered in October 2001 by three senior judges headed by Lord Woolf, LCJ. Submissions by the defence that Martin had fired in his own defence were rejected by the appeal court. On this occasion the defence also submitted evidence that Martin suffered paranoid personality disorder specifically directed at anyone intruding into his home. This submission was accepted by the Court of Appeal and, on the grounds of diminished responsibility, Martin's murder conviction was replaced by manslaughter carrying a five year sentence, and his ten year sentence for wounding Fearon was reduced to three years. These sentences were to run concurrently.
Martin was imprisoned in Highpoint Prison, Suffolk. When he became eligible for parole and early release in January 2003, the Parole Board rejected his application without stating a reason. The chairman of the parole board, Sir David Hatch, in an interview with The Times described Martin as "a very dangerous man" who may still believe his action had been right.
Martin challenged the decision in the High Court, where the parole board's decision was upheld. Probation officers on Martin's cases said there was an "unacceptable risk" that Martin might again react with excessive force if other would-be burglars intruded on his Norfolk farm. On 28 July 2003, Martin was released after serving three years of his five-year sentence, the maximum period for which he could be held following good behaviour.
During 2003, Fearon applied for, and received, an estimated £5,000 of legal aid to sue Martin for loss of earnings due to the injuries he had sustained. However, the case was thrown into doubt when photographs were published in The Sun, showing him "cycling and climbing with little apparent difficulty" suggesting that Fearon's injuries were not as serious as had been claimed.
While the case was pending, Fearon was recalled to jail after being charged with the theft of a vehicle while on probation on a conviction for dealing heroin.
Fearon later dropped the case when Martin agreed to drop a counter-claim.
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Norfolk Vigilante part 6 of 6by alanheath3223 views
Well done for posting this, and standing up for Farmer Martin.
usenetposts 6 months ago
@usenetposts I toned down my real opinion in order for it to appear as neutral as I could get it. Having said that the prosecutors and police are the ones who should have been locked away!
alanheath3 6 months ago
@alanheath3 I agree wholeheartedly - what on earth has happened to this country where we are no longer allowed to defend our property and even lives?
supportme123 6 months ago
@supportme123 The disgraceful thing is the behaviour of the police and the prosecutors. They let crooks get away scot free, they do nothing to protect the innocent despite being paid very well for doing so. I am very glad the law has been changed to do something about it but as the riots this month show, the right for a criminal to steal and destroy is greater than the right of people to protect their property and even live.
alanheath3 6 months ago