Threats force freed farmer into hiding (had killed a burgler, was jailed for manslaughter)

National Post, with files from news services ^ | July 29, 2003 | Araminta Wordsworth

[Clive]

A reclusive British farmer whose shotgun killing of a teenage burglar provoked a national debate about victims' rights was in hiding yesterday after being released from prison.

Threats have been made against the life of 58-year-old Tony Martin, who was convicted in April, 2000, of killing one burglar and wounding another after the pair broke into his isolated farmhouse -- aptly named Bleak House -- in rural Norfolk.

Mr. Martin's five-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of Fred Barras, 16, touched off a heated debate over the rights of owners to defend their property.

That debate has been reignited with his release. Supporters say Mr. Martin has been atrociously treated, being forced to serve the maximum two-thirds of his full sentence. They are also calling for changes in the law that shows in Britain a man's home -- or farm -- is no longer his castle.

Mr. Martin's life was changed forever on that August night in 1999.

That was when he shot and killed Barras and hit his accomplice, Brendan Fearon, 33, in the leg as they prepared to break into his farm, which had been the target of burglars some 30 times before.

Prosecutors said the fact Mr. Martin had rigged up ladders in trees as lookout posts and removed the staircase inside the house indicated he expected to be attacked. The shooting was therefore premeditated.

The case continues to rile Britons, many of whom feel the law is slanted in favour of criminals. They also say they cannot rely on the overstretched police to help them, particularly in rural areas.

The farmer's release came the same day as the London Evening Standard published a police report showing there are 164 muggings a day in the British capital. That is down by one from last year's record, despite Prime Minister Tony Blair's much-vaunted street-crime initiative.

"The whole law with regards to householder rights needs reform," said Henry Bellingham, a member of the opposition Conservative Party and Mr. Martin's MP.

"The law should be more weighted in favour of the householder. What we have at the moment is an assumption against the householder. If a householder takes any action against an intruder, the householder is prosecuted."

In Canada, people whose homes are invaded are permitted to defend themselves if they are in fear for their lives.

In the United States, the test is less stringent. Prosecutors say the case would never have come to trial in their jurisdictions.

"Here in Texas, you do have a right to defend your house," said Adrienne McFarland, the state's assistant attorney-general.

"There is a specific provision which says you are allowed to use deadly force against a person committing an unlawful entry," she told the BBC. She added the householder did not even have to warn the burglar first for the self-defence argument to be valid.

Mr. Bellingham also said he had questions about why Fearon, a career criminal with more than 30 convictions, had been released early last Thursday after serving less than a third of a sentence for heroin dealing, his latest crime.

Thundered one outraged newspaper: "He is a low-life career criminal who has a record as long as a giraffe's neck."

In contrast, Mr. Martin, a first-time offender, was forced to serve the maximum two-thirds of his sentence. He was twice turned down for parole.

Mr. Fearon has also been given leave to sue Mr. Martin for compensation for the damage and distress caused by the shooting. He claims the incident affected his ability to enjoy sex and martial arts.

The lawsuit may not be the last of Mr. Martin's problems.

British newspapers reported members of Britain's gypsy, or traveller, community have warned he will be killed in revenge for the death of Barras, who was a gypsy. A price of £60,000 ($135,000) has reportedly been put on his head.

"He's a dead man. I don't know if it will be a traveller that will do it, but it will be a proper hit man, a professional job," the Express quoted one gypsy as saying.

"Something will happen to him, it's got to. And to those who say it's just talk, I'd say wait and see. The detectives can't be with him all the time, can they?" another said.

Supporters say Mr. Martin is determined to go back to his remote property, where a single yellow ribbon and a bunch of red roses had been left by well-wishers ahead of his release.

A mobile police station, manned 24 hours a day, has been set up at the rundown farm in the village of Emneth Hungate in response to the threats. It is expected to be staffed for several weeks to ensure Mr. Martin's safety.

The Daily Mirror said Mr. Martin had sold his story to the newspaper for an undisclosed fee.

"We, like most people, do not condone the fact that Tony Martin killed somebody," said Piers Morgan, the tabloid's editor.

"But we have enormous sympathy for a man who was repeatedly burgled in his own home and eventually felt compelled to take drastic action to defend himself and his property.

"The way the British justice system has treated Mr. Martin is, frankly, appalling," he said.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Prosecutors said the fact Mr. Martin had rigged up ladders in trees as lookout posts and removed the staircase inside the house indicated he expected to be attacked. The shooting was therefore premeditated.

Lucky thing he didn't put locks in his doors or they would have hung him.

[Shermy]

Irish travelers agains?

2002 Irish Traveler Stories on FR

[The KG9 Kid]

Martin's country has done him a great disservice. Imagine living in a land where you must remove your staircase from inside your house in order to lawfully prevent attacks on your person and your assailant sues you because he can no longer practice the martial arts and learn to beat old pensioners senseless.

After reading yesterday's op-ed from a British paper about 'Think of the poor lad bleeding his life out in an orchard', I wanted to vomit. The only thing Mr. Martin is guilty of is not using enough gun.

The moral of this story: Shoot, shovel, and shut up. No-one would have ever known about that kid if Martin hadn't called the law down upon himself.

[jjm2111]

Are the Brits waking up?

[Paul Atreides]

That was when he shot and killed Barras and hit his accomplice, Brendan Fearon, 33, in the leg as they prepared to break into his farm, which had been the target of burglars some 30 times before.

Prosecutors said the fact Mr. Martin had rigged up ladders in trees as lookout posts and removed the staircase inside the house indicated he expected to be attacked. The shooting was therefore premeditated.

Imagine that! Being targeted 30 times before and thinking he would be hit again. Where did that prosecutor get his law degree, from a Cracker Jack box?

[Paul Atreides]

"Something will happen to him, it's got to. And to those who say it's just talk, I'd say wait and see. The detectives can't be with him all the time, can they?" another said.

They remain free while the victim has to go into hiding. Some justice system!

[The KG9 Kid]

We should take up a collection to relocate Tony Martin to the Texas Hill Country.

... and then relocate me while we're at it.

[PropheticZero]

A mobile police station, manned 24 hours a day, has been set up at the rundown farm in the village of Emneth Hungate in response to the threats. It is expected to be staffed for several weeks to ensure Mr. Martin's safety.

To expedite his re-arrest once he caps the hitman that came to kill him.

Afterall he knows its coming, so if he shoots the hitman then it must have been premeditated.

Boy if I was visiting in Great Brittian, and I wouldn't unless I could have a gun with me. I'd just shoot the puke mugger that tried to get me and keep walking. I'd be in the next city over before the cops got there to protect me.

[El Sordo]

Jeeezz Louise....

What has become of that foggy isle?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Its gone down the rabbit hole.

[dark_mooncat]

"We should take up a collection to relocate Tony Martin to the Texas Hill Country..."

He's welcome here in the Commonwealth of Virginia as well [where we have concealed carry, thank you very much]. He would be an asset to the community. If he's not wanted in Britain [which is becoming part of the Third World only slightly slower than is the Continent], he's welcome here.

There are plenty of remote areas in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley where there are Virginians who would make sure that he would feel right at home.

[Steely Glint]

Britain is such a disgrace.

They should hang the dope dealer and give the farmer a medal. Instead they seem to be trying to do it the other way around.

Disgraceful.

[yankeedame]

Amen, brother, and preach on!!

[yankeedame]

We should take up a collection to relocate Tony Martin to the Texas Hill Country.

Or some nice farm in Iowa. I hear that state us just begging for people to come live there.

[GovernmentShrinker]

What good would it do to relocate him to Texas or Virginia now? He's a convicted felon who, per OUR laws can't legally purchase or carry a gun -- even though his conviction was under a British law not comparable to any U.S. law. Remember the former FFL, who lost his license due to a conviction in Mexico for accidentally transporting a box of ammo in the trunk of his car?

[El Gato]

Doesn't say anything about Irish Travelers, but it does use the word Gypsies, which is more likely to refer to the Rroma peoples, especially with the name "Barras" Still Irish travelers is possible I suppose. There is a branch of the Rroma in England, which also had been in the US since around 1850.

[dennisw]

Doesn't say anything about Irish Travelers...............

An article a few days ago did use the word Travelers. As being the ones threatening Tony Martin as he's being released from prison

[dennisw]

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22Tony+Martin%22++travelers&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=abtr2k%24eic%241%40grapevine.wam.umd.edu&rnum=3




Carman wrote:
I wholeheartedly agree! Lets get the facts straight!
One of these facts is that Tony Martin was imprisoned
for using a gun to defend himself. If he hadn't used
a gun, even if all the other circumstances had been
identical, he wouldn't have been convicted.


Question:
How does the "town nut" get a firearms certificate
in the UK?
Answer:
He doesn't.

The prosecution painted Mr Martin as unstable because
he had previously defended himself from the same band
of Tinkers, (euphemistically known as Travelers), when
some of them attempted to run over him and his dogs with
a car. Mr Martin reported the events to the police, (just
what any "town nut" would do?) and they confiscated his
shotgun for his trouble.


Carman wrote:
How is it possible for someone to be "lying in wait"
in his own home? Did Mr Martin somehow entice those
frequently convicted, (yet very much at large), thieves
into coming to his house and breaking in?

The kid did, indeed, get shot in the back. Yet he had
chosen to break into Mr Martin's house in the middle of
the night. There were no electric lights on the main
floor of the dwelling. Mr Martin's lawyer asked the
court how Mr Martin was supposed to know which direction
his assailants were facing? He got no answer.

The prosecution also tried to make a case that ladders
tied to an old tree in the years were "sniping positions",
but no one bought it.

#
# I sympathize with the guy, since the three perps together had been
# arrested over 130 times for burglary (the 18 year old over 20 times)
# and not put away by the courts.

Carman wrote:
You "sympathize", but present the some of the preposterous
fabrications of the prosecution as facts, and can't even get
them right. I doubt Mr Martin can use much more sympathy like
this.

After the previous break-ins, Mr Martin went to the police
for help. He got no help. After he was assaulted by the Tinkers
and only survived because he fired at their vehicle with a
shotgun,(harming no one, be it noted) he went to the police for
help. They disarmed him.

It may also be worth noting that no one at his trial disputed
Mr Martin's claim that he would have been killed by those two
thieves had he not been armed.

[SwinneySwitch]

He can BORROW one of my shotguns, Gov.!;^)