Company director’s daughter refused to open safe for two robbers who dragged her by her hair and threatened to burn her with an iron as they broke into the family’s £2.5million home

The brave daughter of a wealthy company director refused to open a safe for an armed robber and his TOWIE-linked accomplice during a terrifying £2.5million gunpoint robbery at her family’s Sandbanks home.

Ashley Fulton, 42, burst into the home of Emily Aitchison and her mother Kerry at gunpoint in February 2023. He was accompanied on the raid by a friend who was once in a relationship with reality TV star Hannah Voyen.

The pair posed as police officers before storming into the luxury property and tying up 55-year-old physio and personal trainer Kerry – who was home alone at the time – hand and foot.

When daughter Emily arrived, the robbers dragged her through the house by her hair. threatened to burn her with an iron and chillingly said they would shoot her mother in front of her eyes unless she gave them the access code to the family safe.

Bravely, Emily refused to carry out their demands and entered the code incorrectly twice before telling them that if she did it a third time the alarm would go off in their Poole Harbor home. The intruders then panicked and fled, a court heard.

Ashley Fulton, 42, and his accomplice entered the home of Kerry Aitchison and her daughter Emily (pictured) in the Sandbanks at gunpoint in February 2023.

After tying up Kerry, a 55-year-old physio and personal trainer, Fulton (pictured) and his accomplice dragged Emily, 22, around the house by her hair.

Fulton was accompanied on the raid by a friend who, in a bizarre twist, once dated reality TV star Hannah Voyen

The judge at Bournemouth Crown Court said Fulton posed a ‘significant risk to the public’ and gave him a life sentence, but he could be paroled within nine years.

His sentencing had been postponed due to his mental health and he was being ‘heavily medicated’, so the judge agreed it would be wrong to sentence him in October.

The robbers locked the women in the toilet and fled, but not before ransacking the £2.5 million home and stealing more than £200,000 worth of luxury watches, designer handbags, jewellery, cash and their mobile phones.

But the career criminals made a number of mistakes and left a trail of evidence and clues that led police to their door.

They left their DNA all over the property and their getaway car was captured on CCTV and found to be registered to Fulton’s address. When police found the vehicle, they found fumes inside with their DNA on them.

Cell phone records later revealed that Fulton, 42, had Googled the exact rare model of the Patek Philippe watch they stole two hours after the robbery.

Police also found online orders from Fulton for police ID wallets and lanyards that the pair used to break into Aitchison’s home.

Judge William Mousley, sitting at Bournemouth Crown Court, said Fulton must serve a minimum of nine years and 192 days before he can be considered for parole.

If and when he was released, he would remain under license for the rest of his life.

Mrs Aitchison’s husband, Mark, is the CEO of Colten Care, which owns 21 care homes in the south of England.

Fulton and his accomplice went to their home address at 1:00 PM on February 21, 2023, posing as police officers.

Mrs Aitchison, a physio and personal trainer, had previously told the court of the lasting psychological damage the terrifying attack had on her and her daughter.

She said, “Home should be a safe place, a sanctuary, a refuge. To me it’s a crime scene where I thought me and my daughter were going to be murdered. I am but a shadow of my former self because of this violent intrusion.

‘Gone is the positive, vibrant, outgoing woman and in her place is someone I don’t recognize.’

Emily, a real estate agent whose father is a wealthy corporate executive, couldn’t leave the house for the first six weeks and cried every day for a month. She had a panic attack and had difficulty returning to work.

The Aitchison family pictured outside Bournemouth Crown Court after Kerry and Emily gave evidence

An aerial view of sandbanks, in Poole, Dorset

The court heard Fulton had been diagnosed with a personality disorder and was placed on medication, but was deemed fit for normal criminal proceedings.

Sentencing Fulton, Judge Mousley said: ‘You are a dangerous offender, you pose a significant risk of serious harm to the public based on the facts of this case, your previous convictions and your diagnosis of a personality disorder.

‘The degree of severity is very high. All these factors deserve a life sentence. Unlike your co-defendant, you are not subject to a lifetime license or recall.

“There is nothing I have read or heard about your personal situation that provides reasonable grounds for considering an alternative to life imprisonment.”

His sentencing was postponed after his lawyer Hugh Mullan told the court his client’s mental health had ‘deteriorated significantly and substantially’ in recent weeks.

Mullan added that his client was ‘heavily medicated’ but lucid and able to listen to the proceedings, with Judge William Mousley KC agreeing it would be wrong to sentence the repeat offender at this time.

Sandbanks are a magnet for the rich and famous, which also makes them a target for burglars

Norman Brennan, a retired police officer and campaigner for crime victims, said afterwards: ‘People might think it is somewhat convenient that this violent criminal is now using the mental health card just as he faces a long spell in prison.

‘He did not appear to have any mental health problems when he held two women at gunpoint in their own home and put them through a terrifying ordeal before stealing £200,000 worth of property that has not yet been recovered.’

Speaking to the family during sentencing, the judge said: ‘I would like to share my strong feelings of support for the Aitchison family. This procedure took a long time and I am sorry for that. I hope you can move forward and put some of this behind you.”

Fulton admitted two counts of theft, possession of an imitation firearm, three offenses of fraud and three of possessing identity documents with improper intent, one of possessing an article for use in fraud and possession of cocaine.

His accomplice – who cannot be named for legal reasons – pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, possession of an imitation firearm and one count of fraud with a false passport, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Fulton’s girlfriend, Lacey Langton, 23, admitted to perverting the course of justice and possessing an ID with improper intent. She was sentenced to 14 months in prison.