Burglar shot by killer farmer Tony Martin breaks silence for first time in 25 years

Brendan Fearon, pictured successful December 1999 (Image: PA )

A reformed transgression has spoken for the archetypal clip astir the nighttime helium thought helium would beryllium killed aft helium was changeable by Tony Martin, pursuing the farmer's decease this week.

Mr Martin was charged with execution pursuing the decease of 16-year-old would-be-thief Fred Barras and the wounding of 29-year-old Brendan Fearon with a shotgun.

The husbandman had confronted Mr Fearon and Mr Barras aft they raided his location successful Emneth Hungate connected the Norfolk-Cambridgeshire borderline connected August 20, 1999.

In an exclusive interrogation with the Daily Mirror, Mr Fearon said helium thought helium would dice that nighttime astatine the hands of the past 55-year-old farmer.

He said: "I thought I was going to dice but I kept reasoning of my kids and I had to get to safety."

Mr Fearon told however helium fled the Norfolk farm, escaping down the roadworthy wherever helium recovered an aged neighbour who phoned an ambulance.

Tony Martin (pictured) has died astatine the property of 80 (Image: PA )

He said: "At the clip I had nary thought mediocre Fred (Barras) was dead. The husbandman didn't rise the alarm, helium near maine to my ain fate. I deserved that."

Mr Fearon, who spent a full of 14 years of his beingness down bars, told the paper that helium did not "blame" Martin for his injury, oregon the decease of his teenage accomplice.

Now aged 54, helium added: "It indispensable person been scary for him with intruders. He'd been done truthful galore times before, truthful you can't blasted him."

His comments travel aft the decease of Mr Martin connected February 2. He served 3 years successful situation aft the shooting astatine his location successful Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, successful 1999.

He was initially recovered blameworthy of murder, but this was reduced to manslaughter connected appeal.

Martin's friend, Malcolm Starr, said that the Norfolk husbandman had died successful infirmary aft suffering a changeable successful December. The lawsuit provoked a nationalist statement astir the measures homeowners tin instrumentality to support their property.

Mr Starr said Mr Martin "deserves a airy up connected him", adding that helium initially recovered him to beryllium "very eccentric".

Fred Barras was 16 erstwhile helium died aft being changeable by Mr Martin (Image: PA )

He said: "I deliberation his honesty got him incarcerated due to the fact that helium couldn't lie. Because if you spell successful that situation, you bash everything you could astir apt to get retired of it and say, this happened and they attacked maine oregon thing similar that.

"But what I'm saying is he's truly a precise consecutive feline from that constituent of view."

Mr Starr, who handled Martin's relations with the media, added: "I inactive maintain, however bash you cognize however anyone would respond until you're faced with it?

"I don't deliberation you tin foretell however you'd enactment if idiosyncratic came into your property."

In 2013 Mr Martin revealed he had erstwhile again confronted a burglar astatine the property.

He said helium caught the would-be burglar portion checking connected an outbuilding. They drove disconnected erstwhile confronted and Martin decided not to effort to halt him, saying: "I couldn't look going done each that again."

Mr Martin said astatine the time: "I haven't changed my views astir what happened successful 1999, but the full acquisition has made maine suffer religion successful the strategy and I didn't privation to beryllium made retired arsenic the transgression again."