The pressure has come from Conservative MPs and a local police chief, amid continued controversy surrounding Norfolk farmer Tony Martin's life sentence for murder. Jim Wilson, chairman of Norfolk Police Authority, is also pressing for a clarification of the law on self defence to put householders' minds at rest. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of murder by a 10 - 2 majority at Norwich Crown Court. On Monday four Tory ex-ministers issued a statement insisting extra patrols may not be enough counter what is seen as a rising tide of crime in the countryside and warning that reduced public confidence in the police may prompt a rise in vigilantism. The possibility of a breakdown in law and order in our countryside is real.
Action is needed now.
Gillian Shephard represents Norfolk South West, the constituency of Tony Martin, who is appealing against his conviction for murdering a teenage burglar. The renewed concerns over rural policing come despite an announcement of extra government funding likely to run into tens of millions. The cash follows a Home Office study last year into the problems of population density and policing, according to reports. The move is expected to be set out in the Treasury spending review in July. A delegation from rural police services met Charles Clarke, the police minister and MP for a Norfolk constituency, over how to fund forces in sparsely populated areas, according to The Times.