Simon Freeman reports on a new book by Sussex crime writer John Sanders investigating the Tony Martin murder trial which gripped Middle England.

John Sanders, like the average British homeowner, has been burgled three times in the past 25 years.

He has lost oil paintings, Victorian treasures and heirlooms worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Each time he was given a crime number for insurance purposes and, like the average British homeowner, was told by detectives not to expect to see his property again.

On the third occasion, pent up with "impotent fury", he angrily told officers: "Next time, I'll blow their heads off."

So when the Tony Martin case hit the headlines in August, 1999, it was a subject close to his heart and he, like millions of others, was hooked.

Speaking at his home in a small village just north of Brighton, he said: "I never believed Martin would be charged with murder. When the case came to court I never thought a jury would convict him of murder. It was just incredible."

Mr Sanders began his career as a copy boy at The Argus in the Forties before moving to the Daily Sketch, forerunner of The Mirror, and finally becoming managing director of the youth publishing arm of magazine giant IPC. He left shortly after Robert Maxwell took the reins in 1989.

He has since written 15 books on subjects ranging from the history of Irish terrorism to the use of forensic science in crime detection.

He took up Martin's story the moment the media circus rolled out of the Fens.

He met relatives, spoke to witnesses, corresponded with Martin in prison and visited Bleak House, the dilapidated farmhouse which was, for a while, the most infamous address in the UK.

He said: "This is the first time I've written about a high-profile murder case and it was one with which I immediately felt an affinity, probably in common with around ten million householders in Britain.

"I got very involved emotionally when I first read the story, which I know is bad practice journalistically speaking. I said to my publisher that we had to do it and at first he wasn't too keen. It didn't look on the surface like there was much left to be said.

"But when I found out what was going on in the background and in the courtroom I saw the case had a very seedy side. Now I believe the whole case truly stinks."

At Martin's trial at Norwich Crown Court in April last year, jurors were told how he had killed Fred Barras, a market trader from a travelling family, during a late-night raid on his farm.

The teenager, who had a number of convictions, was on his "first big job" to burgle Martin's home with accomplice Brendon Fearon.

The court heard how Martin, who had a hatred for and a fear of burglars, had crept downstairs with a pump-action Winchester shotgun and fired repeatedly at the two men.

Fearon, who was seriously injured, and Barras jumped through a window. It was not until the next afternoon that the teenage boy's body was found.

The case hinged on whether Martin, who was portrayed as an eccentric loner, had used reasonable force in the defence of his property.

The verdict of the jury was that he had breached that boundary.

In the aftermath of the trial there were allegations of jury interference and intimidation of witnesses. An appeal has been pencilled in for October.

Mr Sanders said: "I wrote to Martin in prison and got some very nice letters back. He was very self-effacing. It was not fair to put his lifestyle on trial.

"I spent a week up in Norfolk and went probing around. The house is amazing, so much undergrowth has grown around it you don't even notice it's there. It's quite eerie, particularly because part of the broken window frame is still lying there.

"I spoke to a lot of farmers. They all have shotguns. They say they are for rats but you know they're not.

"In the past three years 65 people have been killed by burglars. People have a reason to be frightened.

"When someone breaks into your home you can't wait for them to decide whether or not they're going to kill you. It could be too late.

"People should be allowed to defend themselves as they feel fit. This happened in the middle of the night. Tony was panicked and terrified, knowing one of his relatives had already been killed by burglars.

"There's no way a jury can put themselves in his position, and no way they should have judged his actions as they did."

Tony Martin And The Bleak House Tragedy is published this month through True Crime Library. It will be available in bookshops priced £5.99.