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10,000 new DNA samples in one year
NEARLY 10,000 people in South Yorkshire have been added to a national DNA database since a European court ruled against the practice of indefinitely keeping the details of innocent people last year, according to new figures.
In December 2008 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that indefinitely keeping genetic profiles of unconvicted suspects was a "blanket and indiscriminate" practice.
But new figures revealed in Parliament show that 9,562 profiles have been added to the database by South Yorkshire Police since the ruling – the equivalent of 33 a day.
Details of about 120,000 South Yorkshire people are held on the database, even though an estimated 20 per cent – 24,000 people – have never even been charged. Only 60 profiles have been removed in the 11 months since the ruling.
Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jenny Willott said: "The Government's attempt to store innocent people's DNA for up to 12 years has been categorically slated by the experts, forcing them into an embarrassing climb-down in Parliament.
"The Home Office needs to put an end to this charade by removing all innocent people from the database, once and for all."
The Government has now tabled a bill for adults who are cleared of any crime to have their DNA profiles removed from the database after six years.
The move signified a retreat from their previous policy of holding records for 12 years, which was dropped from the Policing and Crime Bill last month when it faced the threat of defeat in the House of Lords.
Kevin Morton, South Yorkshire Police director of scientific support services, confirmed the parliamentary figures were correct, and added: "In all cases where individuals are acquitted, they have a right to apply for their profiles to be removed."
Last month the chief executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency defended DNA profiling as "the most effective tool for the detection and prevention of crime".
But Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "Stockpiling the intimate profiles of millions of innocent people is an unnecessary recipe for error and abuse."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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