More on Tony Martin and Britain's love affair with criminals.
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Subject: WSJ030729 EuroReview & Outlook: An Englishman's Home
July 29, 2003
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
An Englishman's Home
Yesterday one of Britain's most controversial killers was released. Tony
Martin -- a 58-year-old farmer -- had served more than three years in prison
for killing a burglar who was attempting to rob his isolated farmhouse. His
story is one that resonates across Europe.
A victim of repeated burglaries, Mr. Martin told the courts at his trial
that he had been acting out of self-defense and "blind panic." Police had
previously told him that they lacked the resources to respond speedily to
crimes, so he kept a shotgun to protect himself. Originally he was given a
life sentence, but a public outcry and an appeal reduced the sentence to
five years for manslaughter. Although his "victim" Fred Barras, was only 16,
he already had a record 29-offenses to his name, and during the robbery was
on bail for theft.
But while Mr. Martin faced a possible sentence of life in prison, the
accomplice of the burglar he shot, Brendon Fearon, was only given three
years for conspiracy to burgle, and only served 18 months. To compound this
farcical situation, the British courts also ruled that based on the European
Convention on Human Rights, Mr. Fearon has the right to use British
taxpayer's money to sue Mr. Martin for the injuries he caused him during the
robbery. Since his release (before Mr. Martin's) this "victim" was returned
to jail for selling heroin.
Although Mr. Martin should have been due for early release in January, the
parole board refused his request, stating that he hadn't shown sufficient
remorse and was likely to re-offend. Sadly for the country that used to
believe "an Englishman's home is his castle," things are only likely to get
worse. The home secretary's most recent inspiration is that criminals can
apologize to victims instead of facing jail. This is designed to reduce
Britain's problem of over-crowding in prisons. It is likely to produce more
burglaries of the sort Mr. Martin faced.
Maybe it's time Britain looked across the Atlantic and realized that the
reason why crime in the U.S. continues to fall -- while in Britain and the
rest of Europe it continues to rise -- is due to a far less tolerant
attitude toward crime. A government's first priority should be to reduce
crime rather than prison populations, and to protect honest citizens rather
than criminals.
Updated July 29, 2003
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