13/02/2004

Tony Martin arrested following number plate theft

Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who shot and killed a teenage burglar at his farmhouse in 1999, has been arrested on suspicion of theft.

Martin was arrested by Cambridgeshire police yesterday investigating the theft of car number plates. The farmer was not charged and has been released on police bail, it has been reported.

Police confirmed today that a 59-year-old man from the Wisbech area had been arrested in relation to the theft.

Tony Martin was sentenced to life imprisonment for shooting dead 16-year-old Fred Barras who broke into his remote Norfolk farmhouse in 1999. Barras's accomplice, Brendon Fearon, 33, was wounded in the leg when Martin opened fire with an illegally held pump-action shotgun.

Martin later had his sentence reduced to five years when the charge against him was reduced to one of manslaughter. He was released from prison in July last year.

The case prompted a fierce debate on the right to self-defence and the right to defend property against criminals.

(gmcg)

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