Scores of old age pensioners in Cumbria have been convicted
for committing crimes over the past 12 months, according to police figures. Theft
was the number-one offence committed. The spate of crimes committed by people
in this age bracket could be a direct result of being plunged into poverty,
according the UK’s largest charity for older people.
"The majority of elderly people are on a fixed income
yet rent and bills and other outgoings continue to rise…They live in
destitution and then end up in A&E,” said Hugh Tomlinson, deputy chief officer
of Age UK South Lakeland. Mr Tomlinson said the number of elderly people
seeking welfare advice and being directed to food banks had spiked in the past
18 months. “People are desperate," he added.
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