Spain’s oldest prisoner’s bid to be transferred

IN THE coming days, a judge from the El Burgo de Osma (Soria) prison will decide whether a 94-year-old prisoner will be eligible to transfer from his current location to a facility more adapted to his medical needs.

The man, who has not been named, was initially admitted to prison in January this year after killing his roommate with a cane.

He reportedly suffers from a host of medical issues and has senile dementia and had difficulty adapting to life in the prison due to its lack of facilities for caring for such conditions.

The man’s lawyers are trying to get him transferred to one of the two psychiatric centres attached to Penitentiary Institutions in Spain to see out his sentence.

Currently he is spending his time bed ridden in a specially adapted bed that was introduced to his cell. It is thought that they have also entrusted a loyal fellow inmate to accompany the man and to help him with his day to day needs.

The first court and then the Provincial Court initially denied the release of the man a month ago due to the nature of his crimes but his lawyers have put together another appeal which is due to be decided upon this week.