The ageing jail population has left prison officers providing care for a growing number of older inmates "dying in front of them", officers have said.
The warning from the Prison Officers' Association (POA) has come as new figures revealed the oldest prisoner in England and Wales was 104 years old.
The data showed there were 13,617 inmates aged above 50 out of a prison population of 82,710 in June 2019.
The Prison Service said it was working to meet the needs of elderly prisoners.
More and more inmates were frail, incontinent or had dementia, the POA said.
"You're looking at young prison staff that are trained to be prison officers that are becoming carers," said Dave, who has worked in prisons as a custodial manager for more than 30 years.
The former officer, who did not want his real name used, said when he started work older prisoners were transferred to less secure jails when they approached the end of their sentences but that had changed.
"Now you're getting older prisoners starting big sentences and the young prison officers are coming straight from university, with very, very little life experience and then they're having to deal with major traumatic events like somebody dying in front of them or caring for somebody that is at the end of their life."
His concerns were echoed by the chief inspector of prisons, Peter Clarke, who said the Prison Service should consider whether a new type of accommodation was needed, specifically designed to deal with older prisoners.
"It feels to me as if they're trying to shoehorn this problem into existing accommodation instead of thinking more radically," Mr Clarke said.
Ken Denton, from West Yorkshire, was released from prison in June after serving a sentence for fraud and threats to kill. Aged 53, he was housed in an over-50s wing at a Yorkshire prison.
"When you look at some of the prisons, you know, they're three or four landings high, thin ladder stairways, how do you expect an elderly person to climb them?
"When they come in, you are assessed and they'll say well you should be located 'flat' but if there's no space where you going to put somebody? How can you put somebody at second or third landing? You can't, it's inhumane.
"I saw people with cancer, saw people with diabetes, long term prisoners that need their medication but can't get to their medication because the medication hatch is on the second floor and they've got to go to a lift but they can't get into the lift because there's no staff to take them.
"If you needed a wheelchair, it might take you three to four months to get a wheelchair because one had to be designed for yourself and it also had to come from the specific local authority in the area you came from."
The Prison Service said: "An ageing prison population poses particular challenges, which is why we work closely with local councils and healthcare providers to make sure we meet the needs of elderly prisoners.
"Last year, a report by the chief inspector of prisons found there was good work ongoing to adapt prisons for older inmates, and we have updated guidance for governors on how to best support them."
However, national chair of the POA, Mark Fairhurst, said the system was failing to meet the needs of elderly inmates.
"We need more disabled access cells situated at ground floor level. We need 24-hour healthcare and we need proper training for staff."
Analysis - The ageing prison population
The number of prisoners over the age of 50 has almost tripled from 4,824 in 2002, the point at which comparable records start, to 13,617 in 2019.
The overall prison population in England and Wales has risen 16% in that time.
About 16% of prisoners were over the age of 50 as of June 2019, compared with just 7% in 2002.
The figures showed that of the 13,617 over 50s, 1,759 were at least 70.
Women made up 548 of the over 50s prisoners, including 32 aged 70 and over.
People in their 30s are still the largest age group in prison, making up just under a third of the overall population.
Tougher prison sentences and the rise in the number of those convicted of historic sexual offences are believed to be part of the reason for the ageing prison population.
In 2016, 101-year-old Ralph Clarke was jailed for 13 years for committing 30 child sex offences dating from the 1970s and 80s. He was believed to be the oldest person convicted in British legal history.
Dr Mary Turner, reader in health services research at Huddersfield University, said: "People tend to get longer sentences, even in older age, now than they might have done in the past and there are now more older people going into prison than there are being released."
She said the situation was not sustainable.
"We can't just see these numbers going up and up and trying to cope with it in a prison environment so we're going to get to a point where we have to think of alternatives and we have to find solutions."
She said options could include building secure care homes and considering alternatives to custodial sentence for older offenders.
Peter Clarke warned the number of men over 50 being held in jails would rise to more than 14,000 by 2022, representing 17% of the prison population.
"The Prison Service has so far has said that it's not going to develop an overall strategy to deal with this issue," the chief inspector of prisons said.
"When prisoners get older, less capable physically or infirm, they don't provide an escape risk, they still have to be held in custody very often and it's not to say they wouldn't present a risk to the public if they were completely at liberty.
"But the question is do they need to be held still in levels of security which are not needed for their physical capabilities and which inevitably are very expensive as well?"
my view.
There’s a debate happening right now — across the media, within Parliament, among academics, prison reformers, and even governors — and it boils down to one essential question:
“Do elderly prisoners really need to be held in high-security custody, when their physical condition no longer poses a threat?”
The BBC asked this in reference to our ageing prison population — a question many are now answering with a soft, sympathetic “no.” But for me?
The answer is still yes.
And I’ll tell you why.
When Age Is Used to Rewrite Justice
We are entering dangerous territory when we begin to believe that age cancels out accountability. I don’t care if someone is 80 years old and uses a walking stick or if they’re 25 and fully able-bodied — if you broke the law, especially in a way that deeply hurt another person or community, you serve your sentence.
That’s not harshness. That’s justice.
This isn’t about vengeance. It’s about recognising the core principle of responsibility. The moment we start shifting that line based on personal characteristics — be it age, gender, identity, background — we’re no longer operating under a system of equal justice. We’re allowing compassion to override consequence, and that, frankly, is a betrayal of the very concept of fairness.
The Meaning of Justice — and Why It Must Apply to Everyone
People say: “But they’re frail,” “They’ve done 20 years already,” “They won’t reoffend.”
And I say: “Were they frail when they committed the crime?”
Because accountability doesn’t vanish with age.
We cannot build a justice system that only punishes people when it’s easy or convenient — then throws in the towel when age or illness makes things a bit more complicated. That’s not justice. That’s evasion.
People in society — especially victims — deserve to see the law upheld without exceptions. That includes elderly people who committed serious crimes. In fact, it especially includes those who used age, position, or power to get away with things for decades.
Some of the worst offences — sexual abuse, fraud, historic violence — are committed by people now reaching their older years. Should they be allowed to serve time in “comfortable care settings” just because they’ve reached 70? Is that what we’re saying now? Because if so, we’re not building a fairer system — we’re building one based on sympathy, not truth.
The Problem Isn’t That Old People Are in Prison — It’s That the Prison System Is Broken
Let me be clear: I am not saying that elderly people in prison shouldn’t have proper healthcare, or humane conditions, or dignity. Of course they should. Every prisoner should.
But the answer to poor prison healthcare, to understaffing, to inaccessibility, is not:
“Let’s just release them.”
The answer is:
“Let’s fix the system.”
Because when we say, “This person is too old or ill to be here,” what we’re really saying is, “We haven’t built a system that can treat people with basic human dignity while still holding them to account.”
And that failure belongs to the government, not to the concept of justice.
Uniforms Don’t Equal Mercy — But Neither Does Age
Let’s stop pretending that prison officers are the ones who want to hold onto elderly inmates out of spite. In reality, they’re being forced into roles they were never trained for — carers, nurses, palliative support. I’ve seen it. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not fair on staff either.
But what’s worse is when the system protects elderly offenders, not by caring for them better, but by lowering the standard of accountability entirely. That’s not justice. That’s evasion dressed up as empathy.
And I’ve got no time for it.
The System Is Failing — And This Debate Proves It
If our solution to overcrowding and poor prison conditions is to release people based on age, then what we’re really saying is:
“We can’t fix the system, so we’ll just let the problem out the door.”
That’s not a solution. That’s avoidance.
That’s a justice system that has given up.
And when we give up on justice — even for one group — we’re building a precedent that will come back to bite us all.
So Here's My Final Word
I don’t care if you’re male, female, non-binary, gay, straight, old, young, black, white, rich, poor — if you commit a crime, you serve your sentence. Period.
If the conditions are inhumane? Fix them.
If the healthcare is inadequate? Improve it.
But don’t come to me with the argument that someone should go free because they’re now weak, or dying, or old.
That’s not justice. That’s betrayal.
And the fact this argument is even being taken seriously in official circles — governors, ombudsmen, ministers — tells me everything I need to know:
The prison system is failing.
Not because it holds elderly people.
But because it no longer believes it can — or should — deliver justice for all.
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