Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jun 2002
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2002
Contact:  http://www.scotsman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/406
Author: Dan McDougall

ASSAULTS ON ELDERLY LINKED TO DRUG ABUSE RISE

SPIRALLING increases in assaults against the elderly in their homes and on 
the streets are being directly linked to a rise in drug use in the most 
deprived areas.

Violent assaults and robberies against the elderly have increased by up to 
15 per cent in the last two years, with experts blaming the crime wave on 
an alarming increase in drug addiction.

The Home Office yesterday warned that crack cocaine use across the UK had 
trebled over the past two years, with Scotland experiencing a 200 per cent 
rise in seizures of the class A drug.

According to the latest figures, assaults on pensioners in the Strathclyde 
region have simultaneously risen by up to 15 per cent over the past two 
years, with attacks in the Lothian and Borders and Grampian areas rising by 
an estimated 10 per cent.

In Aberdeen, where robberies against pensioners have risen steadily, 
community counsellors claim they have been forced to take matters into 
their own hands and are recruiting "guardian angel"-style vigilantes to 
escort pensioners from their homes to the Post Office and back.

A source within ACPOS, the Association of Chief Police Officers in 
Scotland, said the growing number of attacks on the elderly was becoming an 
increasingly serious concern for community police officers.

Liz Duncan, a Scottish Executive officer for the charity Help the Aged, 
said that the apparent increase in incidents came as no surprise and called 
for a dedicated study into crime committed against OAPs.

She said: "It's fair to say there has been a seeming increase in incidents 
against the elderly over the past few years, particularly crimes against 
them in their own homes, like aggravated burglary.

"Like most countries, older people in Scotland do live in permanent fear of 
crime. Many of them will not go out after dark, which also makes them feel 
like prisoners in their own home.

"I, and many like me, would argue that there is a specific need to carry 
national statistics on crimes against OAPs so we know what kind of scale 
the problem is on."
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