Commenting today on HM Chief Inspector’s report on an unannounced inspection of Kingston Prison, Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust said:

“The Chief Inspector’s report on Kingston, said to be the flagship for care of the elderly, reveals that old prisoners must suffer the double punishment of incarceration together with a standard of care which would have led to the immediate closure of any other institution for the old and infirm.

Whatever their age, serious and violent offenders must be detained to protect the public but they do not need to be held in such inhumane conditions with so little constructive activity”. 

Supported by the Nuffield Foundation, the Prison Reform Trust and the Centre for Policy on Ageing have just completed an investigation into conditions for, and the treatment of, older prisoners in England and Wales.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. On 4 April 2003 the prison population in England and Wales was 73, 154

2. In 2001 (the year for which latest figures are available) the number of sentenced male prisoners aged over 60 was 1206 (2.4%) and the number of females was 19 (0.7%).

3. The number of males in prison aged 60 and over has significantly increased in recent years. Since 1995, when there were 587 in prison, it has increased by  170 per cent.

4. The majority of males in prison aged 60 and over (55%) have committed sex offences. The next highest proportion is violence against the person (21 per cent) followed by drugs (10 per cent).

5.  The number and proportion of adult prisoners serving long sentences has increased significantly. In 2001 eighty per cent of prisoners aged over 60 were serving sentences of 4 years or more. Between 1995 and 2001 the number for this age group serving the same sentence length more than tripled, increasing from 318 to 966.

6.  The number and proportion of males aged over 60 sentenced to prison by the courts has increased significantly. Between 1995 and 2000 the number of males for this age group sent to prison by the courts increased by 55 per cent. In 1995 fines accounted for the majority of sentences (31 per cent) handed down by the courts for this age group. By 2000 imprisonment accounted for the majority of sentences (31 per cent) and fines accounted for 24 per cent

7.  The significant rise in the number of male prisoners aged over 60 is not matched by a corresponding rise in the number of males convicted by the courts for indictable offences. Between 1995 and 2000 the number of convictions for this age group increased by only 8 per cent. The incidence of sexual offences which accounted for 18 per cent of all convictions (the second largest proportion, after shoplifting) in 2000 was 2 per cent lower than in 1995.

8.  The increase in the elderly prison population is not explained by demographic changes, nor can it be explained by a so-called 'elderly crime wave'. The increases are due to harsher sentencing policies which have resulted in the courts sending a larger proportion of criminals aged over 60 to prison to serve longer sentences. This has particularly been the case in relation to sex offenders and drug traffickers. The courts are also tending to imprison those older offenders whose crimes most challenge society's age-relate stereotypes. 

9.  A department of health study conducted in 1999/2000 of 203 sentenced male prisoners aged 60 and over in 15 establishments in England and Wales (about one fifth of that total population) reported that 85 per cent had one or more major illnesses reported in their medical records and 83 per cent reported at least one chronic illness or disability when interviewed. The most common illnesses were psychiatric, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and respiratory. 

10.  A number of academic studies and a forthcoming report by Prison Reform Trust have concluded that the health, social care, rehabilitation and resettlement needs of older prisoners are not being satisfactorily met.