Number of pensioners in Britain’s prisons reaches record levels – including 28 aged in their 90s

RECORD numbers of OAP inmates are in jails — including 28 in their 90s. There were 456 in their 80s and 1,625 in their 70s in England and Wales last year. The oldest lag in Britain is Sidney Cooke, 99, suspected of up to 20 deaths in the 1970s and 1980s Credit: Collect Pop paedo Gary Glitter, 82, was jailed for historic sex abuse in 2015, freed on licence in 2023 but recalled Credit: PA The 2,109 total aged 70+ account for one in every 40 inmates. It is more than double the 1,028 in 2014. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The stats suggest justice is catching up with those guilty of historical crimes. The oldest lag is paedo Sidney Cooke, 99, suspected of up to 20 deaths in the 1970s and 1980s. His parole bid failed last year. Pop paedo Gary Glitter, 82, was jailed for historic sex abuse in 2015, freed on licence in 2023 but recalled after the Sun investigated his activities at a bail hostel. Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, was charged with historical offences including unlawful sex with a girl under 13 last month after a fresh investigation. Separate Home Office figures show police recorded more than 9,000 sex offences last year where the alleged crime took place more than 20 years earlier. Most read in The Sun Campaigners say the ageing jail population is a major headache for prison bosses battling overcrowding, violence, staff shortages and crumbling Victorian jails. The trend has also created pressure for more adapted cells, medical care, social care support and end-of-life planning inside jails. At HMP Leyhill, Gloucs, inspectors said elderly and disabled inmates made up more than half the population. It offers activities including indoor bowls. The Ministry of Justice said: “It is absolutely right vile perpetrators of sexual abuse face the full force of the law and their victims receive justice — no matter how long ago the crime.”