Ipswich – Men jailed for robbery of elderly man

L-R: Lee Corani and Christopher Cullen

Two Ipswich men have been jailed for a combined total of more than eight years, after a robbery at the home of an elderly man in the town earlier this year.   

Lee Corani, aged 40, and Christopher Cullen, aged 45, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on Friday 15 September where they were each sentenced to four years and one months’ imprisonment. 

Corani, of Fitzgerald Court, and Cullen of Silk Street, had both pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery at a previous hearing.

The incident occurred between 3.30am and 3.50am on Sunday 12 February, at an address in Cliff Lane. 

The victim, who was aged 89 at the time of the incident, was woken up by a banging noise at the front door and looked out of his window to find two men outside. The victim shouted at them, and they shouted back that they were the police, in an attempt to get him to open the door. 

A third man who was standing across the road was then told to find a brick and he subsequently handed something over to the other two men. This was then used to smash the glass in the front door and the two men entered the property. 

Once inside, one of the offenders grabbed the victim by the arm and demanded that he told them where he kept his money. The other man then searched through drawers in the bedroom and kitchen. 

He eventually found some banknotes and the pair then left the address and walked off down the road with the third person. On viewing CCTV of the incident, one of the men is heard to shout the name ‘Chris’ repeatedly. 

The victim was left very shaken by the incident and sustained a bruise to his arm, but was otherwise unharmed. 

Police were called and arrived at the scene very soon afterwards. Blood was found on the victim’s front door and following analysis of this, Lee Corani was identified as one of the suspects. He was arrested 10 days later on 22 February and charged the following day. 

Following Corani’s arrest, his mobile phone was seized and analysed and he was found to have attended Christopher Cullen’s home three hours prior to the incident and there were a number of calls between the two both before and after the incident. Cullen was then arrested on 8 March and subsequently charged. Detective Constable Eilish Currie, of South CID in Ipswich, said: “The crime committed by Corani and Cullen against an elderly man was utterly appalling and heartless. 

“To choose to subject this man to such a terrifying ordeal in the middle of the night for the sake of a sum of cash is completely inconceivable. Only cowards prey on vulnerable people and that is exactly what these two men are. 

“I hope the sentence given by the court causes both defendants to realise the gravity of the crime they have committed and deters them from committing further offences in the future.”