Frank Barras Sr, the father of the burglar shot dead by farmer Tony Martin, was jailed for 14 years for armed robbery commited six weeks after watching Martin get life for the murder of his son.
At the trial Barras said he was “devastated” by the death of his son, also call Fred, but obviously not so devastated to prevent him forcing a terrified female security officer to the floor, tying her hands and feet behind her back and pointing a gun at her temple. (She was roughly trussed, suffered ligament damage, and was so traumatized she had to give up her job and seek psychiatric counselling.
Barras Sr’s criminal record dates back to 1969, when, as a juvenile, he was convicted of assault causing bodily harm. He has since accumulated an impressive number of convictions, including handling stolen property, theft, battery, assaulting the police, threatening behaviour and a string of traffic offences.
In court, his barrister claimed that his client’s return to crime after an interval of a year may have been connected with the death of his son, though one would think that losing a child in a shooting incident during a burglary would have had the exact opposite effect.
Another member of the Barras clan, Grandmother Elizabeth Barras, was also charged with possessing a firearm and assisting an offender in connection with the conviction of Frank Sr, but was too ill to stand trial.
Fred Barras Jr was 16 when he died. When he broke into Martin’s farmhouse he had already appeared in court 18 times and had 29 criminal convictions to his name, including theft, fraud and assaulting the police. He had served two months in a young offenders’ institution. He was on bail at the time of the burglary and there is evidence he had been working as a fence.
Darren Bark 33, who drove the car, had 52 previous convictions stretched back 20 years, including a large number for theft, burglary and assault.
Brendan Fearon 30, a family friend occasionally described as an “uncle”, is a vicious career criminal, with 33 convictions ranging from burglary to wounding.
Including Fred Jr's record, the three men involved in the burglary at Tony Martin’s farmhouse had 114 convictions between them, but it is Tony Martin who is in jail for life. Bark and Fearon will very soon be free to resume their criminal careers.
Bonus: In a laughable piece of evidence, Brendan Fearon actually claimed they had only taken Fred Jr along that night to “keep him out of trouble”.
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Date: 2002-05-24 07:16 pm (UTC)- Frank Barras Sr, the father of the burglar shot dead by farmer Tony Martin, was jailed for 14 years for armed robbery commited six weeks after watching Martin get life for the murder of his son.
- At the trial Barras said he was “devastated” by the death of his son, also call Fred, but obviously not so devastated to prevent him forcing a terrified female security officer to the floor, tying her hands and feet behind her back and pointing a gun at her temple. (She was roughly trussed, suffered ligament damage, and was so traumatized she had to give up her job and seek psychiatric counselling.
- Barras Sr’s criminal record dates back to 1969, when, as a juvenile, he was convicted of assault causing bodily harm. He has since accumulated an impressive number of convictions, including handling stolen property, theft, battery, assaulting the police, threatening behaviour and a string of traffic offences.
- In court, his barrister claimed that his client’s return to crime after an interval of a year may have been connected with the death of his son, though one would think that losing a child in a shooting incident during a burglary would have had the exact opposite effect.
- Another member of the Barras clan, Grandmother Elizabeth Barras, was also charged with possessing a firearm and assisting an offender in connection with the conviction of Frank Sr, but was too ill to stand trial.
- Fred Barras Jr was 16 when he died. When he broke into Martin’s farmhouse he had already appeared in court 18 times and had 29 criminal convictions to his name, including theft, fraud and assaulting the police. He had served two months in a young offenders’ institution. He was on bail at the time of the burglary and there is evidence he had been working as a fence.
- Darren Bark 33, who drove the car, had 52 previous convictions stretched back 20 years, including a large number for theft, burglary and assault.
- Brendan Fearon 30, a family friend occasionally described as an “uncle”, is a vicious career criminal, with 33 convictions ranging from burglary to wounding.
Including Fred Jr's record, the three men involved in the burglary at Tony Martin’s farmhouse had 114 convictions between them, but it is Tony Martin who is in jail for life. Bark and Fearon will very soon be free to resume their criminal careers.Bonus: In a laughable piece of evidence, Brendan Fearon actually claimed they had only taken Fred Jr along that night to “keep him out of trouble”.