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Express
January7, 2014
Impoverished pensioners are stealing to survive the recession, it is claimed, and are ready to risk jail as dwindling pensions and soaring prices put them on the breadline.
Since the economic downturn began in 2008, thousands of elderly people have been prosecuted for theft.
Shoplifters as old as 89 have been caught and even in the genteel Cotswolds police say that over-75s are causing a mini crime wave.
Neil Duncan-Jordan of the National Pensioners Convention said: “When times are tough people make desperate decisions because they feel they have no alternatives.
“Pensioners should not be scared to seek help; better that than risk a criminal record so late on in life.”
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of shoplifting offences in England and Wales in the 12 months to June 2013 was 307,652; an increase of 3,000 on the previous 12 months.
That data is not broken down into age but answers to Freedom of Information requests show that in the past five years almost 150 pensioners aged 70 and above have been prosecuted for shoplifting in Derbyshire.
Last year there were 32 prosecutions while in 2012 there were 34, more than double the 14 pensioners police cautioned or put through the courts in 2009-10.
Among those arrested for stealing were two people aged 89, two aged 88, three aged 87 and two aged 86.
Age UK Derby and Derbyshire chief executive Katy Pugh warned that some of those prosecuted might be suffering from dementia but not receiving the help they need.
