Burglar picks wrong target a 72-year-old ex-army boxer

Published on Tuesday 30 June 2009 22:03

A BURGLAR was left battered and bruised by an elderly man after brandishing a knife in the pensioner's home.

Seventy-two-year-old Frank Corti – who used to box for the army – said he was compelled to defend himself and his wife after Gregory McCalium threatened them.

McCalium, 24, confronted the elderly couple after a row over noise levels between the neighbours in Botley, Oxford.

He was drunk after an all-night party when he forced his way into Mr Corti's home at 8am on August 19 last year, Oxford Crown Court heard.

McCalium, a cocktail barman, threw the knife towards Mr Corti but the former Royal Engineer dodged the blade and punched him in the face twice.

The younger man, who was found guilty of aggravated burglary after a trial, was given a black eye and a bloodied lip before being restrained.

McCalium was sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment yesterday.

Mr Corti said: "We are very pleased, because our life was severely disrupted by the incident and we are pleased he won't be troubling us for a few years.

"I had to restrain him before he could go and get the knife. I was scared when he first threw the knife, but most people would have acted in the same way.

"If you can't defend what's yours, where are we at?"

Mr Corti, whose wife Margaret was also home at the time of the attack, received only minor injuries.

He added: "I shouted to my wife to ring the police. I was absolutely petrified.

"He was holding a knife which looked more like a six-bladed knuckleduster.

"He made a slashing movement at me but I dodged it by stepping back and he missed. As I saw it, it was a matter of do or die, so I let his wrists go.

"Fortunately the element of surprise was with me, so I adjusted my position and hit him with my right hand. It was just below the eye.

"I did not knock him out, but he was stunned. I heard the knife drop. We grappled. I was trying to drag him out of the back door. We both fell to the floor.

"I had to subdue him by punching him, which I did not take a great deal of pleasure in."

At an earlier hearing in March, Mr Corti told Oxford Crown Court that McCalium was a neighbour from hell.

Prosecuting, Brian Payne said: "There was a struggle and it was clear Mr McCalium was intoxicated because his reactions were slow.

"It seems Mr McCalium ended up with far more serious injuries."

Recorder Angela Morris told McCalium he "got what he deserved".

She said: "Luckily, Mr Corti was an able-bodied 72-year-old who was able to defend himself.

"The jury might well have concluded you got what you deserved when you entered that property and took a swipe at him with that weapon.

"The elderly and vulnerable people are entitled to demand the protection of courts from people like you who decide to take matters into your own hands and enter a property with a weapon."

Mr Corti served with the Royal Engineers in North Africa during the Suez Crisis between 1956 and 1958.

Despite standing at just 5ft 5in tall, he boxed as a featherweight and was known for his right hook.