Old people ‘increasingly afraid’

Press, 6 December 1989, Page 2

Old people ‘increasingly afraid’

By

SUZANNE KEEN

Elderly people are becoming increasingly afraid and suspicious as a result of victimisation and service cuts, says the secretary manager of the Canterbury Aged People’s Welfare Council, Mr Charlie Waters. He said older people were considered easy prey by burglars and thieves. The council is warning elderly people to beware of a young man who befriends pensioners and then steals from them. He is the subject of a police inquiry after coming to the attention of social workers.

Other elderly victims of recent incidents include a St Martins woman who was threatened with a knife in her home by a burglar and a Waltham woman, aged 81, who was held hostage in her house, threatened with a knife and robbed of $345. Mr Waters said one of the biggest problems was that older people did not know how to handle money in the computer age and tended to hoard cash or carry it. with them instead of using a chequebook. Their im-

mediate reaction to news that Postßank would charge for chequebooks was to threaten to withdraw money and keep it at home. Mr Waters said the elderly had lost faith in banking services when the Government closed Post Office branches. Elderly people had lost the sense of belonging to a community. Their feelings of insecurity became greater every time they heard of somebody being “bashed up.” The president of Grey Power in Christchurch, Mr Alan Ryan,

said many elderly people were concerned about police cuts. A recent example of victimisation he had heard of was where a well-spoken man in his 60s befriended elderly people and then encouraged them to sell him antiques at “ridiculously cheap prices.” Mr Waters said the council had tried to counteract the problem of bogus servicemen preying on older people by offering its own handyman service. It had a list of 100 reputable tradesmen to whom people could be referred. The service was used regularly.