A NORFOLK farmer who claimed he was only defending himself and his home when he shot dead a teenage intruder during a burglary was jailed for life yesterday after being convicted of murder.
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| Tony Martin: said he had been in fear of his life when he shot at the intruders |
The judge said the fates of Tony Martin, 55, and Fred Barras, the 16-year-old he killed with a shotgun blast to the back, were "a dire warning" to burglars and householders who used unreasonable force to protect their homes. Mr Justice Owen said the case had also raised serious questions about the level of rural crime and ordered that concerns over policing the countryside be brought to the attention of the Chief Constable of Norfolk.
The jury of six men and six women at Norwich Crown Court voted 10-2 to convict Martin of murder but cleared him of the attempted murder of Brendon Fearon, 30, the ringleader of the burglary gang from Newark, Nottinghamshire. Martin, who had suffered repeated burglaries at his remote and squalid Victorian farmhouse before Fearon and Barras broke in on Aug 20 last year, stared at the jury impassively as they returned their verdict after almost 10 hours.
Nick Makin, his solicitor, said there would be an immediate appeal. He said: "If this area had been properly policed, Fred Barras would be alive today." Members of the teenager's family in the court roared in approval as the verdict was returned. A female relative shouted at Martin: "I hope you die in jail."
Martin told the trial that he had been in fear of his life when he shot at Barras and Fearon, who suffered serious leg injuries. He opened fire after being woken when the intruders smashed a window in his farmhouse in Emneth, west Norfolk.
His claim that he had shot at them from halfway down the stairs was disproved by scientific evidence that showed he must have fired his illegally-held, pump-action shotgun from the doorway of a downstairs room. The prosecution accused him of angrily lying in wait for the burglars and opening fire, without warning, from close range in retribution for previous robberies at his home.
Fearon ripped out a window as the two burglars fled. Barras staggered about 15ft before collapsing in the undergrowth and dying within two minutes. Many members of the local farming community had rallied to Martin's cause by sending letters of support and cash for his defence.
But the shooting of Fred Barras, a repeat offender from a family of travellers, enraged others. The trial was told that a £60,000 underworld contract had been offered to kill the eccentric farmer, known to some locals as "Mad Man Martin".
Hilary Martin, 86, his mother, said last night: "I am devastated, shocked and upset. Because of this verdict, decent people will not be able to sleep at night. He was merely defending himself against people who are thieves and vagabonds. They are evil. If he did not act as he did, they would have kicked his head in. He was going to defend himself and he panicked."
The Barras family - the boy's mother Ellen, his father Fred and his five sisters - said they did not condone the boy's actions but he should have been dealt with by the justice system. A statement issued by the family said: "He was not given that chance. Please remember that he was just 16 and the baby of our family. We are all devastated by his loss."
After the verdicts, Mr Justice Owen told the court: "It seems to me that this case does serve as a dire warning to all burglars who break in to the houses of other people. Every citizen is allowed to use reasonable force to prevent crime. Burglary is a crime. The householder in his own home may think he is being reasonable but that can have tragic consequences."
Ken Williams, the county's chief constable, acknowledged later that concerns over rural crime had become a major issue since the shootings. Martin had suffered so many losses from his farm and from his antiques-filled home that he believed it was "a waste of time" working with the police.
Mr Williams said: "In an ideal world. I would have all the resources I need. However, we police in the real world and have to make do with what we have." Det Chief Insp Martin Wright, who led the murder investigation, said that he derived no personal satisfaction from Martin's conviction and said the case had been "a tragedy" for all involved.
He said: "I think the central lesson is that members of the public should not take the law into their own hands. The one problem with Mr Martin was that he was clearly a repeat victim of crime but we rarely heard from him."
Richard Portham, a spokesman for the local Martin support group, described the shootings as "a crime committed in terror". He said: "The jury's decision will have devastating consequences for the safety of people in their own homes. Householders faced by intruders now have no effective protection in law."
Martin appeared unrepentant about the shootings in an interview conducted by the BBC while he was in a "safe house" awaiting trial. He said: "We are supposed to live in a civilised society, but that is not the way I have been treated. People are not aware of what it's like in the countryside: criminals prevail - it cannot be right. It's not reasonable that people should live in fear."
Martin was also sentenced to 10 years after being found guilty of wounding Fearon. He had earlier pleaded guilty to possessing the shotgun without a firearms certificate, for which he received 12 months.
19 April 2000: Farmer trial judge sums up
18 April 2000: Farmer 'executed burglar'
15 April 2000: Murder case farmer faces underworld death threat
14 December 1999: £20,000-a-month guard on empty farm
24 October 1999: Let victims shoot rural intruders, says lawyer
24 August 1999: Farmer charged with murder as neighbours pledge help
24 August 1999: 'Lovable rogue son didn't deserve to die'
23 August 1999: Farmer held after man is shot dead
