THE TONY MARTIN STORY

Farmer Tony Martin became a focus of huge national debate after shooting dead a teenager who was burgling his home. The incident ignited a furore in Britain over issues such as rural crime and the rights to defend property. Many vigorously supported the then 54-year-old, but others dismissed him as a violent eccentric who chose to act as a vigilante. The case continues to attract controversy, with the ongoing attempts of Brendon Fearon, an accomplice of the teenage burglar, to sue Martin for injuries sustained during the incident. The episode began in August 1999 when 16-year-old Fred Barras, and 33-year-old Fearon, broke into Martin's remote, semi-derelict farmhouse in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk.

Martin's farm was extremely remote and had been burgled many times. Martin, who was in the house at the time, opened fire with an illegally-held pump-action shotgun. Barras was shot in the back and died at the scene, while Fearon was shot in the leg and recovered after treatment in hospital. Three days later, Martin was taken into police custody and charged with murder and wounding with intent. The case caused an immediate furore, with local supporters protesting outside the remand hearing. It became apparent that Martin's orchard farm and home, called Bleak House, had been plagued by crime for years.

Martin had been burgled so many times that he had set up an elaborate network of look-out ladders and traps, even removing a stair to hinder intruders. Three months before the shooting, crooks had broken into the house and taken £6,000 worth of furniture. Burglar Fred Barras, 16, was killed while fleeing Martin's house Martin distrusted the police and was said to have begun fearing for his life. He slept with his clothes and boots on and reportedly kept his gun primed and ready by his bedside. When his trial began in April 2000 Martin argued that he had genuinely been acting in self-defence. But it emerged the pair had been shot as they tried to flee through a window.

Jurors also heard that Martin had a history of gun-related misbehaviour, including firing upon a car six years before, an incident which led to his shotgun certificate being revoked. Fearon, who was injured, tried to sue Martin for loss of earnings Norwich Crown Court decided he had gone beyond self-defence, and convicted him of murder, for which he was automatically sentenced to life. The verdict sparked even more argument, with campaigners calling it "monstrous". Martin received thousands of supportive letters in prison. He began an appeal immediately. In court he argued he had suffered from a paranoid personality disorder which diminished his responsibility.

His barrister told the court Martin had suffered sexual abuse as a child and "considered himself a boy of about ten". The court found in Martin's favour and in October 2001 his offence was downgraded to manslaughter and his sentence reduced to five years. But the controversy did not end there. Fearon, who had more than 30 criminal convictions, is now trying to sue Martin for damages as a result of being shot. He has asked for a reported £15,000 for loss of earnings, claiming he can no longer enjoy sex or bear to see shootings on television. Fearon is himself currently in jail, after being convicted in February of this year on drugs charges and jailed for 18 months.

The case is likely to be heard once both Fearon and Martin have been freed. Martin has also continued to make front pages as he has wrestled with the parole board for early release from prison. He is due for automatic release on 28 July, when he will have served two-thirds of his sentence, but this could have been brought forward to as early as September last year. The parole board, however, has continually refused him early release, saying he has shown no remorse and would continue to pose a danger to any other burglars. Martin argues he has made plans to ensure peace and security on his eventual return home.

He has discussed protecting his home with electronic gates and an air raid siren, and has been given a specific police contact to call in case of trouble. This has not stopped commentators worrying that he will therefore be vulnerable to revenge attacks from Fearon's supporters, who have reportedly put a bounty on his head, worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Tony Martin was sent a £7,000 bill for electricity, used by cops while he was in jail. The electricity powered a mobile police station and floodlights by officers guarding his home after he shot dead burglar Fred Barras. Police stayed at the 200-acre farm for a year until his trial at Norwich, Norfolk, to preserve the crime scene. The force set up another mobile HQ in 2003 to protect Mr Martin after he served three years for manslaughter.

Since his release he has slept with his rottweiler Otto in a Vauxhall Astra, parked in his barn. The house itself is sealed up. Mr Martin said, “If this isn’t sorted out I’ll cut off the supply and have a generator. And I’ll move all the electricity poles on my land.” Norfolk Police said, “Mr Martin has not yet been in contact with us. We will be quite happy to pay for electricity we used.” Powergen said, “We are dealing with Mr Martin directly.”

Tony Martin is said to be "disgusted" at a BBC documentary's decision to pay the convicted burglar he wounded at his home about £4,000. A BBC spokesman said it had paid Brendan Fearon a fee to appear to ensure the programme was "properly balanced". He said it was to give the "fullest possible account" of the farm shooting. But a spokesman for the Norfolk farmer, Malcolm Starr, said the actions of the BBC "beggared belief". Mr Starr said Mr Martin was "disgusted at the depths television crews will go to get a programme". Mr Martin had been interviewed for the documentary but had not been offered any fee at all, he said. "Mr Fearon is a good case in point that crime pays," said Mr Starr.

The BBC spokesman said, "The BBC's 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. Given that Mr Fearon is the only person apart from Tony Martin who is alive and a witness to what happened, and because there is currently public controversy about householders' rights to protect their homes from intruders, it is extremely important that the public hear the fullest possible account of the event... We believe that what Mr Fearon has to say is a contribution which will ensure that the programme is properly balanced and as full a picture as is possible. The fact that Mr Fearon was paid will be made clear to viewers in the programme. In the end it is for viewers to weigh up the credibility of what Mr Fearon has to say."

Henry Bellingham, Mr Martin's MP, said he was going to write to the chairman of the BBC, Michael Grade, and culture secretary Tessa Jowell expressing his concern over the decision. Speaking on the BBC's Today programme on Radio 4, Mr Bellingham said, "Obviously it's important to try and get Brendan Fearon on to the documentary as only him and Tony Martin know exactly what happened. What I would say is that Brendan Fearon has been on a number of shows, he's given a number of interviews, he hasn't been slow in coming forward to talk to the press. I just don't believe that every effort possible was made to persuade him to come on to this programme on an unpaid basis. I think paying him quite a substantial cash sum is simply over the top."