Protect burglars, says parole board

Burglars have the right to be protected from homeowners who threaten them with "lethal force," lawyers opposing the early release of the Norfolk farmer Tony Martin told the High Court yesterday.

As predicted by The Independent on Monday, they said the "unacceptable" risk Martin posed to the public included the potential harm he might cause to anyone who trespassed on his property.

Pushpinder Saini, for the Parole Board, argued: "Even if only those who came on to his property were the group at risk of the use of lethal force at the hands of Mr Martin, it was not irrational for the Board to consider such a group were entitled to protection."

But Bitu Bhalla, appearing for Martin, said the farmer was a victim of "injustice" when the Parole Board refused his plea for early release in January. He also challenged the Board's decision in February not to review its initial decision, despite the disclosure of psychological reports not seen earlier which suggested that it was safe to release him.

During the hearing, Mr Bhalla attacked as inappropriate the Board's decision to use the case as a platform for setting out its position on "burglars' rights" in general terms.

The Board had ruled that Martin was not eligible for early release because he showed no contrition for shooting 16-year-old Fred Barras, of Newark, Nottinghamshire, when he broke into Martin's remote Norfolk farmhouse in August 1999 with accomplice Brendon Fearon, 33, also from Newark. Martin was convicted of murdering Barras and wounding Fearon.

He received an automatic life sentence but the murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter and the sentence to five years by the Court of Appeal in October 2001. Martin is due to leave prison on 28 July this year.

A ruling in the case is expected today.