MORE and more country dwellers are likely to be tempted to take the law into their own hands after losing faith in the ability of the police to protect them and their property, a group of MPs said yesterday.
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| Gillian Shephard: 'The whole country has been appalled by the revelations of policing in Norfolk which have emerged from the Martin case' |
There were demands to boost resources for rural policing and to clarify the law on self-defence following the conviction of the Norfolk farmer Tony Martin, said the four Tory MPs, including two former Cabinet ministers. "Many are saying that, like Tony Martin, they too would have defended themselves if the police were unable to help," said the MPs.
Gillian Shephard, who is MP for Martin's constituency, John McGregor, David Prior and Keith Simpson urged that the Government take a serious look at the consequences of last week's trial. Mrs Shephard is seeking a Commons debate on the issues raised by Martin's trial at Norwich Crown Court.
"The whole country has been appalled by the revelations of policing in Norfolk which have emerged from the Martin case. Ministers must now recognise them too," she said. "Police numbers have dropped dramatically across the country as a whole since the general election. In Norfolk there are 50 fewer police officers than in 1997."
Their warning came as Jack Straw agreed to increase Government funding for rural police forces. The Home Secretary has accepted that the formula used to allocate money to chief constables does not fully take into account the extra costs associated with policing rural areas. The increase will be announced later this year in a move that will go some way towards reassuring the 100-strong Rural Group of Labour MPs who have drawn up a manifesto for Labour to do more to tackle the concerns of voters in the countryside.
Mr Straw decided to act after independent research was carried out into the system of funding. That research has been accepted by the Home Office. The survey said the formula failed to take into account issues such as the fact that it takes an officer three times as long to reach a crime in a rural area than it does in an urban one.
As a result of Mr Straw's decision to accept the report, police in the countryside should gain tens of millions of pounds more. The changes are expected to be announced as part of the Government's comprehensive spending review in the summer.
The news came as the chairman of Norfolk Police Authority called for greater clarity in the law on self-defence. In a letter to the Eastern Daily Press, Jim Wilson also said that the county "sorely needed" extra policemen. "The minds of householders across the country would be set at rest if our legislators could define with greater clarity the law which governs a citizen's right to defend his home and property," he said.
His call followed a demand from Ann Widdecombe, shadow home secretary, that householders be allowed greater leeway to use force to protect themselves and property before being prosecuted.
"In a case where there's a dead body on the floor, there would have to be a trial," she said. "But if you go down to what is far more common, which is people who are hitting a burglar over the head, then my view is that it is unacceptable that a person is at risk of prosecution. I think it's quite right to say 'have a go' as long as one is responsible about it."
Martin appeared buoyed by the outcry over his life sentence. In a letter to his mother Hilary, 86, from Bullingdon prison near Bicester, Oxon, he wrote: "I am not aggrieved and extremely strong. I know people are appalled and in fact the people who work in prison are all very sad and surprised. I did become very hopeful but we'll never know why the jury came to the decision they did. I have had many letters from good people and know I will get another avalanche."
Court officials are expected to meet in Norwich today to discuss suggestions that jurors at Martin's trial had felt pressurised or intimidated to convict him.
23 April 2000: Official: police numbers have fallen
22 April 2000: Martin murder trial jurors to face 'nobbling' inquiry
21 April 2000: I was too scared to acquit Martin, says juror
20 April 2000: Farmer who killed burglar jailed for life
17 April 2000: Rural areas hit hardest by police closures
