Bury St Edmunds robbery trial: Court hears man accused made 'odd' return

A man accused of playing a part in an alleged robbery of an elderly woman in Bury St Edmunds made an ‘odd’ return to the scene the following day.

Robert Duke, 35, of Broad Road, Bacton, stands accused of robbery alongside Kyle Haggerty, 26, of no fixed abode – after an incident around 12.30pm on June 27.

The 82-year-old woman had withdrawn £200 from the Lake Avenue post office and then bought fish and chips from a local chippy.

She was apprehended as she approached to her friend’s nearby house to have lunch.

During the incident, the woman was pushed and, after a struggle with a man, deprived of her handbag containing cash and bank cards. She was taken to hospital with cuts and bruises.

On the second day of a trial, Ipswich Crown Court heard today (Wednesday, November 6) that Duke came back to the address at Tennyson Road, Bury, where the victim was ‘mugged’.

Prosecutor Gavin Pottinger read a statement from the friend of the victim who lives on Tennyson Road. This stated that Duke returned to the house on June 28.

“There was a knock at my door. There was a man standing on my mat, and he said: ‘Does she live here?’ and I said no.

“I had seen him before he had been sitting outside the old people’s home which is opposite to mine.

“(Now) he gave me the impression he was concerned about things. He asked if he should go to the police station. I thought maybe he had information which could assist the case, so I said ‘yes’. He then left my doorstep and walked off.

“I thought it was odd and I could not recognise his intentions.”

The jury were shown CCTV recordings from the victim’s entry into the post office, which were said to have shown Duke.

Duke and Haggerty have both already pleaded not guilty to robbery.

Also this morning, a neighbour said he drove near to the scene and spotted two men.

“One of the men had his head covered with what looked like a t-shirt,” said the witness.

Later, the witness returned home. “I was facing the window and saw him (the man with the t-shirt around his head) walking up the opposite side towards Prince Charles Avenue.

“He stopped on the corner. He unwrapped the head gear and he ran straight across and up Curtis Road.”

Yesterday, the court heard that both defendants were said to be ‘blaming each other’ after a video giving the victim’s statement was played.

The trial, now expected to last into early next week, continues.