Concern as innocent people’s DNA on file

Roddy Ashworth

THE Government has defended its policy on retaining the DNA profiles of innocent people after it came under criticism from an Essex MP.

Simon Burns, who represents West Chelmsford in Parliament, claimed keeping genetic data from people who had been arrested by police but then cleared of wrongdoing was a breach of their civil liberties.

But yesterday the Home Office claimed that, nationally, the practice of keeping hold of genetic information from people who had been arrested but not convicted, cautioned or reprimanded had allowed matches with more than 3,000 crime scenes - including 37 murders, 16 attempted murders and 90 rapes.

It came after Home Office Minister Joan Ryan revealed that as of November last year, Essex Police had submitted the profiles of 86,385 people to the National DNA Database. Of these, 12,641 had not been convicted of any crime.

However, this figure - released after Mr Burns submitted a written question to the minister - also included those who had been arrested and charged but were still awaiting trial, she added.

Mr Burns said his concern was with those who had been cleared of wrongdoing and whose DNA was still being retained.

“I am concerned that there are up to 12,641 people registered with their DNA on the database in Essex who have had no conviction, caution, reprimand or final warning,” the Conservative MP said.

“If the Government believes that it is right that we should all have our DNA on a database then that is a different issue, and they should strive to pass a law to enable this.

“As they have not decided to take this course of action it seems unfair to me and a breach of civil liberties - that they are doing that, in effect, by stealth.”

A spokeswoman for civil rights group Liberty agreed with Mr Burns’ views.

“New laws allow police to take DNA samples of many more individuals with whom they come into contact than in the past, even those who have not been convicted of any crime,” she said.

“Turning a nation of citizens into suspects in this way will prove expensive to our privacy and the public purse, and may be no more effective than a smaller database of violent and sexual offenders.”

But yesterday a spokeswoman for the Home Office said: “The Criminal Justice Act 2003 allowed the police to take DNA and fingerprints without consent from anyone arrested for a recordable offence and detained in a police station.

“Sampling persons who have been arrested but not proceeded against has yielded a match with a crime scene in over 3,000 offences including 37 murders, 16 attempted murders and 90 rapes.

“If someone has been arrested, not charged or found not guilty, and they want their DNA profile taken off the database they can ask the chief constable of the police force which took it to remove it.

“Guidance makes it clear that the DNA profile should only be removed in exceptional circumstances.

“Before 2001 the police were required to destroy DNA samples and fingerprints from people against whom charges were dropped or not proceeded with, or people who were found not guilty.

“The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 changed this to allow DNA taken from those charged to be retained.”