A drink-driving nonagenarian and an 80-year-old woman accused of causing grievous bodily harm.

These were just two of a startling list of alleged crimes discovered by Bristol’s Evening Post via a Freedom of Information request to Avon and Somerset Police.

The information revealed by the Northcliffe daily showed that during 2007 and 2008, 223 people aged over 70 were arrested for a range of criminal offences – 23 of them were women.

They ranged from low-level crime, such as theft and being drunk in public, to serious offences of sexual assault, possessing an automatic weapon, loan sharking and conspiracy to murder – the latter involving a 71-year-old woman.

There were several arrests for soliciting prostitutes and the oldest pensioner taken in was a 99-year-old man accused of house burglary and theft, without violence.

The figures revealed that arrests were made for 62 different types of offence but did not show which pensioners were charged or how convictions were secured.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police told the Evening Post: “Anyone over the age of ten may be accused of a criminal offence and may be bought before the court – there is no upper limit for someone committing crime.”

Comments

Hengist Pod (11/11/2009 13:55:03)
If I ever get to 99 I might consider embarking on a career as a burglar. After all there wouldn’t be any worries about getting a lengthy jail term. On second thoughts maybe I’ll become a banker instead – the jail terms are even less for wrongdoing and the rewards are far higher.