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."