TONY MARTIN - Father of the burglar he shot sentenced for armed robbery

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ISSUE 2211 Thursday 14 June 2001

Father of Tony Martin victim jailed for raid
By Paul Stokes

FRED BARRAS, father and namesake of the teenager burglar shot dead by Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer, was jailed for 14 years yesterday for leading a £400,000 armed robbery.

Barras, 46, who barely knew his son, was the ringleader of a gang that held a lone woman security guard at gunpoint during a planned raid on a warehouse. Lisa Taylor's wrists and ankles were bound with flex before the raiders escaped with three lorries loaded with clothing belonging to the fashion chain Next.

Miss Taylor struggled free and called police on her mobile phone. She suffered physical injuries and was so psychologically affected that she had to leave her job and undergo counselling.

The robbery took place a month after Tony Martin, 55, was jailed for life in April last year after being found guilty of murdering 16-year-old Fred Barras.

Barras senior was convicted of conspiracy to rob at the end of a nine-day trial at Leeds Crown Court. David Sumner, his barrister, said his client had a record of dishonesty offences from many years ago.

He said: "To some extent he had lived down his past. There may be some connection with the tragic events of his recent life, in relation to the death of his teenage son, and his turn to crime."

Barras, of Pollington, East Yorks, and his wife Ellen, separated shortly after the birth of their sixth child, Fred. The next time he saw his son was at his funeral. He showed no emotion as he was sentenced.

Judge Peter Charlesworth told him: "You took a leading part in a very serious planned robbery in which a gun was put to the temple of the lone female security officer in the middle of the night. It involved a considerable amount of planning, both in observations beforehand and in how to dispose of the stolen vehicles and property, and it was executed in a very professional manner."

The late Fred Barras's grandmother, Elizabeth Barras, 69, had also faced charges of possessing a firearm and assisting an offender. The judge ordered the matter not to be proceeded with and left on the file after the prosecution said it had decided not to pursue the case against her because of her medical problems. It had been alleged she had a gun, but not the gun that was pointed at Miss Taylor.

Two other men were convicted in connection with the robbery.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

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It's a family tradition, I guess.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

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