Farmer Tony Martin plans to appeal against his shotgun killing conviction so that he can clear his name before he dies.
The 73-year-old shot dead Fred Barras, 16, and wounded accomplice Brendon Fearon, 29, when they burgled his Norfolk farm in 1999.
The case divided the nation – with many saying he had the right to defend his home and property.
He was convicted of murder and wounding with intent and got a life term in 2000 but the murder rap was downgraded to manslaughter on appeal and he was freed in 2003.
Still unrepentant, Mr Martin said he last year visited Barras’s grave for the first time and thought: “Well, boy, this is basically what you wanted.”
He also claimed burglars have targeted his now derelict farmhouse, Bleak House, again. And he told of how he believes his standing convictions should now be quashed.
Mr Martin will appeal the convictions amid claims new evidence has been found, which casts doubt on original findings in the case.
Asked why he was making the move, he said: “Your home is your castle, it’s about having the courage to be free. I want freedom for people who are decent. I have a right
to clear my name – I’m not sure how much longer I’ve got to live.”
The appeal is expected to set out analysis of the original probe and concerns over forensic evidence, the trial and appeal. The case will be submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which decides whether to take it on – with new evidence almost always needed.
The CCRC mulls whether the case should be referred to the Court of Appeal, based on whether there is a “real possibility” a conviction would be quashed.
The move comes as a dramatisation of Mr Martin’s story screens on Channel 4 this weekend. He is played by The League of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton in The Interrogation, which is based on police interviews.
He said of the drama: “It will be interesting to see how it comes over. I’m a simple man really. I see things more clearly than the establishment.”
Mr Martin was in Lincolnshire for a farming show last year when he sought out the grave of Barras, from Newark. He said: “I stayed there for a couple of minutes. It’s got a photo of Barras on it, the same one used in the papers.
“That was the only photo I’d ever seen of him – I couldn’t see him at the time [of the shooting].
“I ran into a guy in the graveyard and asked him if he knew where Barras’s grave was. He said he did. I told him, ‘It’s a strange thing to say but I’m the one who put him there’.
“I looked at the grave and said, ‘Well, boy, this is basically what you wanted. You’ve made your mark’. I suppose I made my mark too but my mark came about simply because I happened to live in a house. Barras did what he wanted to do. He had a short life. Seeing the photo and reading about him, he seemed a happy sort of lad.”
In August 1999, Mr Martin was charged with murder, attempted murder, wounding with intent to cause injury and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
He did not hold a valid shotgun certificate – or the more restrictive firearms certificate needed for the Winchester pump-action shotgun he used. In his trial, the prosecution accused him of lying in wait and opening fire without warning, after previous break-ins. A shot was fired towards the raiders in his stairwell and two as they fled.
Both suffered leg wounds and Barras was hit in the back, dying at the scene.
Fearon and getaway driver Darren Bark, 33, admitted conspiring to burgle the house. Fearon got three years’ jail and
Bark received 30 months. In 2001, Mr Martin’s life term was cut to five years on grounds of diminished responsibility, after he was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder exacerbated by depression.
Mr Martin still works the 300 acres of land at his farm but has not set foot in Bleak House since Barras’s death. He said: “I’ve no end of jobs. I’ve never caught up with the four years I lost.”
Of the recent break-in, he said: “I put a ladder out the other day, up a tree. Later, they’d put it against the house. They’d tried to get in.”
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The Interrogation, Sunday, C4, 9pm.
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