1996

Every year, as many as 240,000 elderly people fall prey to crimes carried out by children. These offenses are overwhelmingly acts of harassment. The elderly are subjected to verbal abuse, stones hurled at them in the street, and windows smashed. In some cases, the harassment escalates to burglary or even murder. Over the last four years, at least 12 seniors have been killed by juveniles. Dispatches contacted all of the leading national agencies responsible for elder care and, without exception, they were unaware of the scale of the problem. Across Britain, older people suffer in silence, afraid to leave their homes while children seem to control the streets.