Martin: Prison was like a dark hole

Tony Martin, jailed for killing a teenaged burglar, spoke about his prison ordeal today as he was being released, saying: "It was like being in a dark hole."

The farmer launched a broadside against the law which put him behind bars for shooting the two intruders who were burgling his isolated farmhouse.

The 58-year-old has vowed to campaign for a change in the law to prevent anyone being convicted for defending their homes.

"When you resort to using a gun you are desperate," he said. "Criminals will sit outside people's homes and say, 'We are going to do your house over. You know what may happen to you if you try to stop us.'"

Martin faces a series of death threats from men claiming to be relatives of Fred Barras, the 16-year-old whom he shot dead. One said: "Martin will get it."

Ishmael Steel, who claims to be Barras's cousin, said: "To those who say it's just talk I'd say, 'Wait and see.' The detectives can't be with him all the time."

Police have parked a mobile police station outside Martin's farmhouse in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk. They have installed security lights and hi-tech alarms, and have officers patrolling his grounds.

The irony of the measures is unlikely to be lost on Martin, who was the victim of at least 30 burglaries before the night when he turned his pump-action shotgun on Barras and his accomplice Brendon Fearon, who suffered gunshot wounds.

But Martin has vowed to resume the life he lived before his conviction in April 2000 for murder, which was reduced by the Court of Appeal to manslaughter in October 2001. "If I'm going to live in fear for the rest of my life, I might as well be in prison or even dead," he said.

His solicitor, James Saunders, added: "I know that what he really wants is to get back to his quiet country life. "He feels he has really wasted four years of his life because of this, and there are still people being attacked in their homes by burglars. He wants others to benefit from his experiences."

The farmer, who lived alone, today told how he had been driven to desperation on the night he took the law into his own hands.

"I've reported a lot of incidents to the police which they never did anything about, saying they haven't got the resources and it's costing too much," he told the Daily Express.

He added: "Look, I don't agree with shooting people. It's not something I take lightly. When you resort to using a gun you are desperate.

"I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack on the night of the burglary. I thought I was in a horror movie," he said.

"I got the gun, loaded it and then waited. It seemed like for ever.... I heard this murmuring and had the light shone in my eyes. All these things happened in a flash.

"I couldn't stand it any longer and then I just let the gun off."

Fearon was wounded, then jailed for burglary, along with getaway driver Darren Bark. Martin was was given a life sentence, reduced on appeal to five years.

Today he said: "Finding myself locked in the cells was like being in a dark hole.

"I was told not to talk to anybody in jail because they thought I would be attacked, but it wasn't like that."

Martin is being sued by Fearon for compensation over claims that his gunshot wounds ruined his sex life and chances of working.

But today there was confusion as Fearon's brother Joe claimed he was dropping the claim.

Fearon was freed on Friday from his latest conviction, as Martin was moved from Highpoint prison to the secret location where he spent his last days in custody.