A burglar shot and wounded by farmer Tony Martin broke two decades of silence and said: “I have no anger or bitterness.”
Brendan Fearon, speaking after Martin’s death aged 80, on Sunday, February 2, explained how the shooting in 1999 initially did nothing to deter his life of crime and he went on to re-offend. But the criminal, now 54, told the Mirror how he was reformed, and Martin’s death was “sad” and the “end of a chapter”.
He believes that the reclusive Norfolk farmer – who never returned to his home – “probably suffered as much in his life as I have” after the horror shooting at his remote home, saying “I feel for him and his family”. Brendan was injured during the raid at Martin’s isolated farm and his 16-year-old accomplice, Fred Barras, was shot dead.
The crime sparked fierce national debate after Martin was caged for murdering Barras.
However, Brendan, who still suffers “terrible pain” from the bullet wounds to both his legs, said: “Life’s not been kind to me but it was much crueler to little Fred, who lost his life, and his family. But I have never felt any bitterness or animosity towards that farmer. He did what he had to do to protect himself and his home.
“I’m not saying he should have shot someone dead – that’s wrong – but he felt persecuted by us and we shouldn’t have been there. His place had been robbed 10 times before and it was an easy target. I have no anger.”
Teen burglar Fred was killed and Brendan, then 29, was wounded after the pair broke into Martin’s home at Emneth Hungate on the Norfolk-Cambridgeshire border on 20 August 1999.
Martin was convicted of murder and sentenced in 2000, but an appeal reduced the offence to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. At his trial, the farmer claimed to have been acting in self-defence while prosecutors argued he had anticipated the pair and lay in wait for them.
He was jailed for three years and released in 2003 but the controversial case led to a change of the law on self defence. Martin always insisted he had no remorse or regrets for shooting the teen dead but never returned to his home, called “Bleak House”.
It was announced this week that Martin died on Sunday after having a stroke in December last year.
Brendan, who described Fred as a “good-hearted little rogue”, said he learned Martin had died after “someone in town came up to me and said he had passed and it was ‘the best thing for him'”. Brendan said: “But I didn’t feel that. He’s got family and friends out there mourning his loss.
“If we’d never gone to his place he wouldn’t have committed any crime, there would have been no shootings and no killing. He wasn’t the only one to blame. But he lived to a good old age, it’s sad he’s gone but it’s the end of a chapter.”
Brendan, who feared he was about to die in the attack, underwent constructive surgery to repair one of his shattered legs and still has a “huge gaping hole” in the other one.
However, his injuries didn’t stop him continuing his life of crime and he was in and out of prison over the following years for offences including supplying heroin and car theft.
Brendan claimed he couldn’t work because of the shooting. But he admitted: “I was a bad lad and being shot didn’t stop me! I’ve been in and out of prison over 14 years for burglary, theft, drugs, assault and stuff.
“Three years was for the Tony Martin offence. I pleaded guilty to burglary. I’ve done it, I shouldn’t have, so see what I get.’ But I finally learned my lesson, crime doesn’t pay and I’ve been out of trouble for the past 20 years, not bad.”
He said the stigma of the case has never left him and he believes some of the general public still judge him.
Brendan, who lives in Nottinghamshire, says he has now left behind his criminal past, saying: “I keep myself to myself and don’t want any bother.”
He has held down various jobs over the past including labouring, carpet fitting and being a door to door salesman.
He said: “I’m a good bloke now. I’ve changed. I’m grounded. I want to work and not feel like a dosser but no one wants to give me a job because of who I am.” Brendan has lost both his parents to cancer. He dotes on his own family and keeps healthy and fit by working out.
Brendan said: “My family means everything to me and I feel sorry for Fred’s mum who lost her only son when he was just a kid. I kept offending for years after that but jail did eventually rehabilitate me and I came to think that if I offended again Fred would have died in vain. So I stopped, for myself, my family and in Fred’s memory.”
He claims that on that fateful night nearly 26 years ago – which has sparked huge debate – he had “no intention” of robbing the farmer. He said: “I was out with Fred and a driver and I thought I was going to help the lad sell some of some stuff he has stolen and kept in a lock up somewhere.
“I was a dad myself at the time and a father figure to little Fred, I wanted to help him get a good price for his gear.” The trio ended up trespassing and he and Barras were targeted while the driver got away. Reliving his terrifying ordeal, Brendan, who was hiding with three Rottweiler dogs running loose, said: “I thought I saw a silhouette and a flash of light.
“Suddenly I felt something in my leg, there was blood pouring out and I thought I’d been bitten by one of the dogs which were frothing at the mouth. I think the farmer was out looking for me and wanted to shoot me but all I could hear were the dogs roaming around barking.”
Re-living his escape, he said: “I was injured and hurting but I started rolling across the ground then walking. I thought I was going to die but I kept thinking of my kids and I had to get to safety. I was rolling and walking and zig zagging across the place, it seems I had gone a mile up the road when I came to a house.
“I was gasping for breath and banging on the windows saying ‘water, water’, and an elderly couple then helped me. They turned on a hose pipe in the garden and I put it to my mouth while they called the ambulance. At the time I had no idea poor Fred was dead. The farmer didn’t raise the alarm, he left me to my own fate. I deserved that.
“I later found out he had climbed up a ladder and had been at the top of a tree looking down on us when he shot his gun at us. It must have been scary for him with intruders, he’d been done so many times before, so you can’t blame him.”
Brendan found out Fred had died while he was in hospital recovering from his appalling injuries, saying: “I was shocked and very sad.” He said of his attacker’s conviction and sentence: “In an ideal world he didn’t deserve it but in a way he did because he killed someone.
“He was charged with murder which was later downgraded to manslaughter and wounding with intent. Martin got three years in the end, maybe a year would have been a more suitable punishment. Being in jail would have hurt him. I’ve been to jail and got another sentence for burgling him but I can handle it.”
Brendan spent two weeks recovering in one hospital before he was moved to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for plastic surgery. He said: “I could have lost my left leg but it was saved. I had huge chunks taken off my backside to reconstruct the leg. One right one has a hole in it and I feel a burning sensation 24-7, like it’s got a lighter on it.”
Brendan told how he paid his respects to Fred at his funeral, attending in a wheelchair. He revealed: “Family told me not to go, saying I’d get lynched because people would blame me. Little Fred always looked up to me and at the time I didn’t know I was going with him to rob a man.
“I wish the lad hadn’t died, I have to think of Fred’s mum and how she must still be hurting with the loss of her only son.” He added: “I was trying to keep Fred out of trouble but it got him killed.. It makes me feel awful. He was no angel but he was a charismatic little lad who would do anything for you.”
During his spell behind bars for the raid on Martin’s home, Brendan was encouraged to pen his thoughts and he started writing an account of his ordeal. The memoir, which he hopes may one day be shared, is aptly entitled: “Is Killing for your Castle Justified?”