Anthony Edward Martin (16 December 1944 – 2 February 2025) was an English farmer who shot a burglar dead in his home on 20 August 1999.
[1][2] There was sympathy for Martin from people who supported the right to defend their own homes, but prosecutors cast doubt on his evidence and pointed out that he did not have a valid firearms certificate.
He left school aged 17 and took a variety of jobs, including as a steward on ocean liners, a worker on Scottish oil rigs, and running a piggery at the family farm.
[2] He also complained about police inaction over the burglaries and claimed that multiple items and furniture were stolen, including dinnerware and a grandfather clock.
[6][7] Martin had his shotgun certificate revoked in 1994 after he found a man stealing apples in his orchard and shot a hole in the back of his vehicle.
[10] Shooting downwards in the dark with his shotgun loaded with birdshot, Martin shot three times towards the intruders, once when they were in the stairwell and twice more when they were trying to flee through the window of an adjacent ground floor room.
The prosecution accused him of lying in wait for the burglars and opening fire without warning from close range, in retribution for previous break-ins at his home.
[11] On 10 January 2000, Fearon and 33-year-old Darren Bark (who had acted as the getaway driver), also from Newark-on-Trent, admitted to conspiring to burgle Martin's farmhouse.
[14] The jury at the trial were told that they had the option of returning a verdict of manslaughter rather than murder, if they thought that Martin "did not intend to kill or cause serious bodily harm".
[21] In an interview with The Times, parole board chairman Sir David Hatch described Martin as "a very dangerous man" who might still believe his action had been right.
[25] However, the case was thrown into doubt when photographs were published in The Sun, showing him "cycling and climbing with little apparent difficulty" suggesting that Fearon's injuries were not as serious as had been claimed.
[30] Following his release, Martin made public appearances as a supporter of the right-wing populist UK Independence Party[31] and was the guest of honour at the Annual Dinner hosted at Simpson's-in-the-Strand by the far-right organisation Traditional Britain Group in November 2003.