<$BlogRSDUrl$>

Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Tony Martin to appear on Celebrity Big Brother 3 (probably)
..can we have some more shotgun cartridges please Big Brother?I have a certain amount of sympathy for murdering farmer, Tony Martin. If I was constantly getting targeted by burgling scum and not receiving any assistance from the police, I too may be tempted into taking the law into my own hands and blowing a few of them away.
I tend to feel that if someone is carrying out an illegal act such as burglary then they forfeit the right to legal protection themselves. No one asked them to break into someone else's property and steal swag. On the other hand I guess if you were allowed to use 'any' force instead of 'reasonable' force to protect your property, there wouldn't be anything to stop me shooting dead one of my enemies, dragging his body into my garden and claiming he was on my land, attempting to kidnap Mrs del Fuego.

The dead, bungling burglar's accomplice, Brendan Fearon is apparently threatening to sue Farmer Martin for damages after receiving his dose of lead. He is claiming that his sex life has been ruined and 'loss of earnings'. This is a burglar, a convicted heroin dealer, a 'career criminal' - so I guess his loss was our gain.

I think the law is correct as it is, it's more a question of how the law is upheld and what sentences the Judges hand out. Two and a half years served for killing someone doesn't seem very much, then again if Tony Martin had been drunk-driving his car and run over and killed the burglars he probably would have got a six month driving ban and a suspended sentence.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mirror is paying Martin a 'six figure fee' for his side of the story. This is a man convicted of manslaughter. We would have never heard of him without this tragedy, so he's profiting from his crime. He has supposedly paid his 'debt to society' if not his lawyers. Should The Mirror be paying him?

It's tough seeing every side of the argument isn't it. Poor old Fred Barras probably never had a hope of having a fulfilling life did he? I blame the parents - Fred's, Tony's PC Plods, the Judge's, the Jury's, Tony Blair's and their parents, and their parent's parents...

Do you agree or am I talking more rubbish? - let me know, add a comment.