Book 'em, Dano."
Posted on 03/05/2005 12:20:13 PM PST by neverdem
The BBC yesterday defended its decision to pay convicted burglar Brendan Fearon for his side of the Tony Martin case.
Fearon is understood to have received around £4,500 from the makers of a drama documentary to give his first television interview. The BBC1 programme, to be shown later this year, will also feature Martin, and use a mix of drama and interviews with witnesses and experts to recreate the incident.
It provoked a national debate when Martin was jailed for killing intruder Fred Barras and wounding Fearon, Barras's accomplice in a bungled attempted robbery at Martin's farmhouse in Norfolk. Martin was convicted in 1999 of murder, reduced to manslaughter on appeal. Fearon was jailed for 20 months for his part in the robbery.
"The BBC guidelines are very clear that payments to convicted criminals are only justifiable when there is exceptional public interest in what a contributor has to say and where there is no other way of obtaining such a contribution," a BBC spokesman said yesterday.
"It is extremely important that the public hears the fullest possible account ... we believe that what Mr Fearon has to say is a contribution which will ensure that the programme is properly balanced and gives as full a picture as is possible."
Viewers will be told Fearon has been paid via an onscreen caption. The executive producer, Richard Klein, said that the wider issues surrounding the programme justified the payment.
"This is an iconic case at the heart of argument that has galvanised public opinion on all sides - how far can householders go in order to protect their property," he argued.
Supporters of Mr Martin point out he is not being paid.
Henry Bellingham, the Conservative MP for North West Norfolk, criticised the corporation for making the payment.
"This shows extraordinary insensitivity from the BBC," he said.
"It is certainly sailing pretty close to the BBC guidelines. It is grossly insensitive for an organisation that is meant to show complete balance."
Malcolm Starr, a friend who led the campaign to free Mr Martin, said he was surprised by the decision because Mr Martin had turned down payment for an appearance on the Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme on ITV.
"The programme makers did not want to upset the public and help Mr Martin to profit and he never asked for a penny," he said.
"I can tell you that Mr Martin will be absolutely horrified and disgusted when he hears what the BBC has done now," said Mr Starr.
It is hard to be outraged by this crap anymore... part of being outraged is having some sense of shock or surprise... this is totally par for the course...
Taxpayers fund BBC. The government is taking money by force to give it to somone who tried to take it by force. Sad.
...and to think that England was once considered the greatest nation on earth.
Hey, crime does pay!
bump
What a crock of bull! The BBC is naive indeed, if they believe their statement. The contribution that the crook will provide can hardly be construed as "properly balanced". This is strictly a money making ploy by the network to increase viewers. Hope it backfires on them.
I was just mindin' me biznness...'elping meself to a trinket 'ere, an 'eirloom there, when this crazy bugga wif' a shotgun pops me one! Killed my mate too, and 'im wif a strumpet and a drug 'abit to feed...Unfeeling popinjay, finks he's better than us wif 'is fancy 'ouse and honest job...Productive member of society! Lock 'im up again!
What a line of crap this is. Defend your home and family and wind up in jail for it while the perp gets paid money and fame. This is what you get when your govt. starts turning socialist. You're the criminal for defending your home & family and the perp gets rewarded. Socialist governments don't want tough citizens who fight back, they want docile sheep who take their beating without complaint.
We'll be nice, n00b, we love "long elegant legs" wherever they are.
LOL! I'm picturing in my mind one of the Badden brothers from 101 Dalmations!
Duly noted and appreciated. B'D
This doesn't sound like the BBC, no matter if they pay or don't pay some participants.
Take a look on the article, for instance. It says that Martin, who - on his own property and having not police protection - releived the earth from a lowlife during an attempt to rob him, was jailed for murder reduced on appeal to manslaughter.
But it doesn't say for how long...
However, it says that the other burglar got 6 months (!).
Surely the victim of the crime had received longer sentence than the perpetrator. And it is not mentioned in the article for the purpose of good balance, I suppose.
'old, on, Bill, Wot's my Crime's on!
Actually, Tony Martin was in prison for much longer, had to pay the perp for shooting him, as well as going through all the frustration of being the 'bad guy' in all of this. His house had been broken into around 24 times when he'd had enough. He got into trouble because he had an 'illegal' shotgun and because the guy that died had been shot in the back. He was running away. I think it stinks, the cops said he should have let them go; but if it'd been me, I'd have done the same. How would Mr. Martin know they weren't going for guns or knives intending to come back!
Oh, they're not in the least naive. They're simply as left-wing as it's possible to get in any western society. One of our right-wing pundits frequently refers to them as "Bloody British Communists.
This is strictly a money making ploy by the network to increase viewers.
Therein lies the supreme irony. They don't need to raise their viewing figures to increase revenue. In fact, comercially, they don't make a nickel. Anyone with a TV set here is compelled, by law, to pay the BBC an annual license fee of around $200. Doesn't matter whether you watch any BBC channel or not. Even if you disabled your TV such that it was incapable of receiving BBC channels, you still pay the fee - or a $2,000 fine if you don't.
And, yes I know, it doesn't get crazier than that!
>Wasn't Tony Martin the guy who was behind "The Factory" postmodern bands like "Joy Division", "New Order" and "Happy Mondays"?
Different Tony Martin, but what a group New Order was!!!!!!
This month's Viz arrived today, and even that potty magazine is commenting, albeit humorously, about the travesty of justice this is.
One 'reader' stated that burglars are vermin, and if one broke into his house and he caught one, he'd simply drive him (the burglar) some distance from the house and release him in the woods.
Not too far from what the libs would expect us all to do, it seems.
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