Police force arrests 200 pensioners in two years

A 99-year-old alleged burglar was among more than 200 pensioners arrested in the past two years by the Avon and Somerset Police. The police force in the south-west of England arrested 200 men and 23 women aged over 70 for 62 offences.

The information released under the Freedom of Information Act includes theft and being drunk in public to causing grievous bodily harm, loan sharking, possessing an automatic weapon and conspiracy to murder. Over the past two years septuagenarians have been accused of assaulting police officers and octogenarians arrested for drink driving.

A 99-year-old was the oldest person to be arrested, for an allegation of house burglary and theft, without violence, while a 92-year-old was also arrested for giving a positive breath test. A 71-year-old woman was arrested for conspiracy to murder, while an 80-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.



Alleged sexual offences make up 36 of the arrests, including a 74-year-old woman arrested for sexual activity with a boy under 13 in her care, and a 70-year-old woman arrested for sexually assaulting a girl under 13. There were several arrests for soliciting prostitutes, and motoring offences account for 57 of the arrests, mostly for drink-driving, with two for dangerous driving.

There were also seven firearms offences, including firing an air weapon, possession of an automatic weapon and possession of military grade ammunition. Shoplifting accounted for 13 offences, with other deceptions including fraud and money laundering.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said: ''Anyone over the age of 10 may be accused of a criminal offence and may be bought before the court - there is no upper limit for someone committing crime.''