Jailed Norfolk farmer Tony Martin is to appeal to the High Court to challenge a parole board decision not to grant him early release.

Martin's lawyer James Saunders told the BBC on Monday he is taking Martin's case to the High Court to try to quash the decision made by the parole board.

He criticised the parole board decision - which means Martin continues to be held at Highpoint Prison, Suffolk.

"I believe the decision was reached unreasonably and I don't think it's right that Tony Martin should stay in prison," he said.

'Very depressed'

The farmer, jailed for shooting dead a teenage burglar at his isolated Norfolk home in 1999, was said to be "very depressed" by the parole board decision.

Martin has always claimed he acted in self-defence when he shot dead 16-year-old Fred Barras, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, and injured another man with an illegally-held pump-action shotgun in 1999.

They had broken into his near-derelict farmhouse Bleak House, where Martin had removed part of a staircase to hinder intruders.

Martin's conviction for murder in 2000 caused massive controversy and raised issues about rural crime and the rights of householders to protect their property.

On appeal, Martin's murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter and his sentence was cut to five years.