Taiwanese man 'too old' for jail

A Taiwanese jail has reportedly turned away a 96-year-old man, saying he would not be able to look after himself behind bars.

Sun Hsin-ming, a former railway worker, was sentenced to three months in jail for squatting.

He refused to pay a fine to stay out of prison, insisting that he was innocent of the charges against him.

But as soon as he turned up at the jail he was sent back to the prosecutor's office, according to local media.

'Illegal occupation'

White-haired and frail, stooping over his walking stick, Sun Hsin-ming seems an unlikely criminal.

But he became Taiwan's oldest convict when he was given a three-month sentence for illegally occupying the dormitory of his former employer, Taiwan's national railway administration - something he fiercely disputes.

"The court is in a mess and won't listen to reason. I am really angry. I haven't done anything wrong," he told reporters.

The Apple Daily newspaper said prosecutors now plan to send Mr Sun to a prison hospital ward in the central city of Taichung to serve his sentence.

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