Proposal to remove young people from DNA database
Charlotte Goddard
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Young people who have been arrested but not convicted will have their DNA profiles removed from the national database when they turn 18, under new proposals put forward by the government.
The profiles of young people convicted for less serious crimes than those they were arrested for will also be removed at 18 under the proposals, currently open to consultation.
The consultation follows the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights at the end of last year, which ruled that an 11-year-old from Sheffield had his privacy rights breached when police retained his DNA sample after he was acquitted of attempted robbery.
In December all profiles relating to children under 10-years-old were taken off the DNA database.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith said: "It is crucial that we do everything we can to protect the public by preventing crime and bringing offenders to justice. The DNA database plays a vital role in helping us do that and will help ensure that a great many criminals are behind bars where they belong.
"These new proposals will ensure that the right people are on it, as well as considering when people should come off."
Up to 1.1 million under-18s have their genetic information stored on the national DNA database, according to official figures released in February.
