Non-Subscriber Extract
European Court DNA ruling dismays UK Government
By Max Blain
09 December 2008
In a landmark judgement at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, judges decided that South Yorkshire Police was wrong to keep the DNA records of two men who had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The ruling could force the Government to remove the DNA details of hundreds of thousands of people from the current total of around 4.5 million that are held on the National DNA Database, which covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It will not affect Scottish forces as they already destroy samples of people who are not charged or who are acquitted.
Chris Sims, the ACPO lead on forensics and chief constable of Staffordshire Police, said the judgment could have a 'profound impact on the service'.