Blunkett summons prison service chief
Phil Wheatley, head of the Prison Service, is expected to appear before Home Secretary David Blunkett on Monday to explain the early release of Brendan Fearon, the burglar in the Tony Martin case.
Mr Fearon, who was shot in the leg after burgling Tony Martin’s farmhouse in Norfolk in August 1999, was released from prison on Friday after serving a third of his 18-month sentence for drug dealing.
His partner in crime, 16-year-old Fred Barras, died of gunshot injuries.
56-year-old Mr Martin, who has served two-thirds of his five-year sentence for manslaughter, has been moved from Highpoint Prison in Suffolk to a secret location awaiting his expected release on Monday.
Mr Martin’s term of imprisonment was reduced to five years and his sentence from manslaughter to murder after overturning the original judgement at the Court of Appeal in October 2001.
Conservative MP Henry Bellingham lambasted the Home Office for granting Mr Fearon’s early release.
Mr Bellingham told the BBC: “There are people in the Home Office who deeply resent the fact Tony Martin has attracted so much publicity.
“They resent the fact that he is going to come out of prison and wage various campaigns, not least to get the legal aid rules changed and to have a debate about the law surrounding householders’ rights.
“I just can’t believe this is just a coincidence. There are people in the Home Office, there are people in the prison service who just want to put the boot into Tony Martin. That’s what Tony Martin feels.”
Home Office minister Paul Goggins said: “I have absolutely no reason to believe that the Prison Service acted improperly, but in view of the high profile nature of this case and some allegations made in the media today, I will be asking the head of the Prison Service to report to the Home Secretary on Monday on the detailed circumstances.”
