Rosie: "No need to keep the DNA of innocent young people" (Woking Liberal Democrats)

Woking Liberal Democrats <info@wokinglibdems.org.uk>

Rosie: "No need to keep the DNA of innocent young people"

August 16, 2009 2:08 PM

The Government's DNA database holder has revealed that 298 young people on the streets of Britain have DNA samples taken from them every single day, and placed on the database.

The National Policing Improvement Agency said that it now holds over 1 million DNA samples from young people.

The DNA samples, taken from children as young as ten years old, have been kept regardless of whether or not the children were charged with any crime.

Nearly 40% of these 1.1 million mouth swabs have been taken from 10-14 year-olds, and then stored alongside data on each young person's 'ethnic appearance,' sex and age. In 2009 alone, police forces have taken DNA from 54,311 'subject profiles' aged between 10 and 17.

This is despite the European Court of Human Rights last December that stockpiling the DNA taken using mouth swabs of 850,000 innocent people was unlawful. In response, the Government has only offered a partial climb-down, ordering the police to not store the DNA from children younger than ten.

The professor who developed the genetic techniques that contributed to the database's development has attacked the Government for keeping innocent peoples' DNA. Sir Alec Jeffreys said the practice caused innocent people to be "branded as criminals".

Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne has attacked the national DNA database as "ludicrous and ineffective" after the Government was forced to admit that the DNA from a baby had been placed on the national database.

The figures obtained by the Lib Dems reveal that six polices forces in Scotland have taken DNA from children younger than ten.

Rose Sharpley said: "Storing the DNA of thousands of innocent young people as young as ten is unlikely to solve our crime problems, but is a costly way of stigmatising young people. If you're innocent, you shouldn't have your data on who you are kept for years."