72-year-old retired boxer beats up burglar

A burglar who broke into a house and threatened a 72-year-old pensioner with a knife got more than he bargained for when the elderly victim turned out to be a retired boxer who left him bruised and bleeding.

Frank Corti, 72, who served with the Royal Engineers in North Africa from 1956-58, dodged the knife and punched Gregory McCalium, 23, twice in the face, giving him a black eye and a swollen lip and sent him reeling to the floor. He then restrained the attacker until police arrived.

McCalium, a barman who was down on his luck, was given a four-and-a-half year prison sentence at Oxford Crown Court on June 24th 2013 for aggravated burglary and was told by the judge he "got what he deserved".

The court heard that Mr Corti was at home in Botley, Oxford, with his wife Margaret, 72, when the young McCalium, a neighbour, forced his way in at 8 AM on August 19th 2012 . McCalium was drunk and depressed from a recent bout of bad luck - and his bac luck was about to get a lot worse.

Speaking after the case, Mr Corti said: "I was scared when he first drew the knife, but my old training must have kicked in because I just punched him as hard as I could and he went down like a sack of spuds. If you can't defend what's yours, where are we at?"

 McCalium had denied the charge and claimed he could not remember what happened. Which is perhaps true. Drunk and punched twice in the head, he may not remember trying to rob the elderly man at all.

But it certainly makes for a funny story.

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