DNA of innocents will be kept on database for six years
Jason Groves and Ian Drury write in the Daily Mail:
The DNA of innocent people could be stored for six years despite a court ruling that it is illegal.
Leaked emails reveal that Home Secretary Alan Johnson plans to defy the European Court of Human Rights by allowing police to keep swabs and fingerprints of those who are arrested but never convicted.
Even children cleared of any wrongdoing would have their DNA kept on a Government database for at least three years.
The emails also show that Mr Johnson is trying to recruit relatives of high-profile murder victims to help with the ‘media handling’ of the policy.
Meanwhile, the Alan Travis, writing in The Guardian, reports that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is pressing the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to withdraw guidance to chief constables to carry on collecting DNA profiles of innocent people:
The EHRC has given ACPO 28 days to confirm that the advice to chief constables will be withdrawn and replaced by advice that complies with the law. If ACPO fails to do this, the commission will consider taking formal enforcement action.
John Wadham, the commission’s legal director, said: “We can see no reason now why ACPO should not change its guidance on the retention of DNA. The commission recognises that ACPO had been put in a difficult position by the government by this issue, which is why we are offering them the opportunity now to amend their advice and avert future legal action.
“The police are at the forefront of the fight against crime. The importance of this fight cannot be underestimated but it should comply with the government’s legal obligation to protect the privacy of innocent people, as outlined by the European court.”
