Killer farmer Tony Martin leaves his £2.5m fortune to pub landlady he met after walking free from prison

Documents reveal Tony Martin left an estate totalling £2,567,795 to Jacqueline Wadsley, who he met in the Hare & Hounds pub after his murder conviction was overturned for shooting Fred Barrass dead

10:05, 18 Feb 2026Updated 11:56, 18 Feb 2026

Tony Martin met landlady Jacqueline Wadsley in 2003 in his local boozer after he was freed from prison for killing a teenage burglar

Killer farmer Tony Martin left his entire £2.5m fortune to a pub landlady he met after being freed from prison for shooting dead a teenage burglar, the Mirror can reveal.

Reclusive Mr Martin, who died last year aged 80, struck up a close bond with Jacqueline Wadsley – known as Jacqui – after his murder conviction was overturned for shooting Fred Barrass dead. They met at the Hare & Hounds pub where Mr Martin would spend time drinking and Jacqui, now 52, spent more than a decade as manager.

The boozer is a short drive from the now-notorious Bleak House home where Mr Martin killed Fred, 16, with a pump-action shotgun on August 20 1999. Despite his past and conviction, Mr Martin and Jacqui are said to have “become like father and daughter” and she was left devastated by his death in February last year.

Jacqueline Wadsley and her husband, David, were named as trustees of Mr Martin’s estate and stand to inherit his £2.5m fortune

READ MORE: Killer farmer Tony Martin’s home CLEARED OUT as fate of £5m fortune to be revealedREAD MORE: Ghouls film themselves sneaking into killer farmer Tony Martin’s abandoned home

Now probate papers show Mr Martin left his entire estate – totalling of £2,567,795 – to Jacqui and her husband, David, 45. The fortune is said to be made up of Bleak House, 350 acres of land around it and property in Australia. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, David, who shares three children with Jacqui, said: “Tony came into Jacqui’s pub which she was running at the time.

Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

“It was more than 20 years ago and it’s around the time I sort of met Jacqui as well, so that’s where the story began. It was after [the shooting] and after Mr Martin had been released from prison. It was a slow burner but Jacqui, by her nature, she’s a very, very caring person so the friendship just grew.

“It became something much stronger and ended up being more like a father and a daughter relationship to be honest at the end.” Asked if they were expected to be named as the beneficiaries of Mr Martin’s will, David said: “Jacqui was very surprised. When she first met him she had no idea about his farm or his estate and that was never on her mind.

Mr Martin made his will in 2013, a decade after he first met Jacqueline Wadsley in his local boozer, the Hare & Hounds

“It was just her caring nature that was just to look after him and then it just grew from there. It was a shock to find out we had been named in his will. We’re still trying to take it all in really.” It was thought part of Mr Martin’s estate would be passed to a family member. But Mr Martin – who had no children – seems to have snubbed his family in his will and probate.

Exclusive images given to the Daily Mirror show Mr Martin enjoying dinner with Jacqui Wadsley and her family

He was said to be completely cut adrift from his feuding elder brother, Robin, and previously described their relationship akin to a “Cain and Abel situation”. After he was shunned for committing murder, Jacqui, who lives in Wisbech, and now works as a property landlord, became Mr Martin’s only family.

The Mirror understands she was heartbroken when he passed and is said to have helped with “medical appointments, accommodation and would be there at all hours of the day” to help Mr Martin. He even attended her marriage blessing when she officially tied the knot with David at the Hare & Hounds pub, surrounded by their daughters and close family.

Mr Martin was jailed for shooting dead teenage burglar Fred Barras and injuring his accomplice Brendan Fearon in 1999(Image: PA)

R

EVENDavid said: “Tony was in the background basically during all our major life events over the last 20 years really. Jacqui was always helping him with anything to do with doctors, hospitals, accommodation, and was there at all hours.”

He added: “We only knew Tony as Tony, so Jacqui is actually still going through a grieving process. We all were very close to him. He had his way and he had his views but you know he became part of the family really. They were like father and daughter and with Tony dying it’s been emotional for her.

Fred Barras was just 16 when he was killed during the shooting in 1999 after trying to burgle Mr Martin’s now-notorious Bleak House property(Image: Rex Features)

“With Tony’s history and past, he obviously had this media presence but she only saw him as Tony. She wants to keep her privacy, there are things that no-one will ever know and how close their relationship was.”

Mr Martin died from the effects of a stroke more than 25 years after Barras and Brendon Fearon, then 29, broke into his home in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, on August 20, 1999. Barras died at the scene but Fearon survived his injuries. Mr Martin was jailed for murder but released three years later after the conviction was reduced to manslaughter.

The case sparked a national debate about homeowners’ right to protect their property. Mr Martin refused to step foot inside Bleak House Farm building after he was jailed for killing Barass and shooting his accomplice.

Brendan was shot with a Winchester Pump Action Shotgun by Martin as he fled the farm and left with life-long pain(Image: PA)

After his death extra 24-hour CCTV were installed at the estate after thieves broke into a barn. Mr Martin’s beloved 1975 Range Rover was vandalised and stripped for parts. The classic two-door motor is a rare model and is worth up to £150,000 when restored, it is believed.

Last night David suggested the estate had been ransacked by thieves and vandals but said they would continue to farm the land. He told the Mirror he had been farming some of the land prior to Mr Martin’s death, adding: “We’ve got no plans at the moment.

“We’re Just tidying things up and we’re just gonna try and keep farming it. We were basically effectively farming it when he died anyway, we had a tenancy. We’re going to try to keep the farm going, which I’m sure Tony would have wanted.”

Mr Martin’s crumbling Bleak House Farm remains uninhabited one year after his death aged 80(Image: Press Association)

Speaking about the raids on the estate, David said: “Tony was tortured and persecuted really all of his life. Unfortunately that hasn’t stopped and there’s still people that are still going down and breaking in. There’s still a bit of a stigma there so it’s been challenging. We’ve just tried to clear things up and tidy up really and till we decide what we want to do but at the moment we just want to keep farming it.”

Speaking after Mr Martin’s will and probate was finalised, his friend, Malcolm Starr, said: “Jacqui used to be the landlady in the Hare & Hounds in Wisbech. After Tony was freed he used to pop in there more than regularly. She’s a very, very nice lady, and she had a lot of sympathy for him and they became friends and she found him accomodation more suited to him later in his life.”

After Mr Martin’s death, Fearon broke his 20-year silence to tell the Mirror he bore no malice towards the farmer who had left him injured for life. He said: “I have no anger. He did what he had to do to protect himself and his home.”

Brendan Fearon broke his silence and told the Mirror there was “no anger” directed at farmer Tony Martin after his death

The 54-year-old also revealed he was sad to hear that Mr Martin passed away and told how the shooting initially did nothing to deter him from a life of crime. But he insisted he has become a reformed character who dotes on his family.

Brendan, who is still in terrible pain from the wounds to both his legs – with a gaping hole in one – said of his death: “I feel for him and his family. Life’s not been kind to me but it was much crueller to little Fred, who lost his life, and his family. But I have never felt any bitterness or animosity towards that farmer.

“I’m not saying he should have shot someone dead, that’s wrong, but he felt persecuted by us and we shouldn’t have been there. His place had been robbed 10 times before and it was an easy target. I have no anger.”

Brendan was told Mr Martin had died by someone who said it was “the best thing for him”. But he added: “I didn’t feel that. He’s got family and friends mourning his loss. If we’d never gone to his place he wouldn’t have committed any crime, there would have been no shootings and no killing. He wasn’t the only one to blame. He lived to a good old age, it’s sad he’s gone but it’s the end of a chapter.”