Over 100,000 innocent people added to DNA database since European Court ruling

8.59.00am GMT Mon 1st Feb 2010

The Government's DNA plans are a mess

More than 100,000 innocent people have been added to the National DNA Database since the European Court of Human Rights ruled in December 2008 that the practice was illegal, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. This includes 2,362 people in the Devon & Cornwall police force area.

The figures, contained in answers to parliamentary questions, show:

• 487,340 profiles have been added to the database since the ruling, including 11,357 from Devon & Cornwall

• This includes 101,367 innocent people, including 2,362 from our area

• In that same period, just 400 people have been successfully removed from the database, and just five from Devon & Cornwall

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jenny Willott MP said:

"It is appalling that the Government has taken the DNA of 100,000 innocent people since they were told the practice is illegal.

"By the time an innocent person manages to get their DNA removed from the database over 250 others will have been added.

"Despite the Government's promises to abide by the European Court's ruling, they are still doing everything they can to avoid it.

"Labour's cynical proposals will create a half-guilty class of people with their most intimate personal information held by the police for six years - even though they have done nothing wrong.

"This is a gross distortion of one of the fundamental principles of this country - that you are innocent until proven guilty."