On 20 August 1999 , Tony Martin , a bachelor , was living alone at his farmhouse , Bleak House , in Emneth Hungate , Norfolk which he had inherited from his uncle in about 1980 . He said that he had been burgled a total of ten times , losing £ 6,000 worth of furniture . Police sources say they are not sure that all the incidents took place . Martin also complained about police inaction over the burglaries and claimed that multiple items and furniture were stolen such as dinnerware and a grandfather clock . Martin had equipped himself with an illegally held pump-action Winchester Model 1300 12 gauge shotgun which he claimed to have found . Changes in legislation in 1988 , resulting from the Hungerford massacre , had changed the licensing treatment of semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than two to equate to that of a firearm , requiring a valid firearms certificate . Martin had his shotgun certificate revoked in 1994 after he found a man stealing apples in his orchard and shot a hole in the back of his vehicle
Hungerford massacre
Hungerford massacre
Tony Martin (farmer)