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Destroy our DNA, teenagers urge police
SOME of the hundreds of innocent Camden children and teenagers whose genetic record is held on the national police database met lawyers on Friday to begin the process of reclaiming their DNA.
Lawyers from civil rights group Liberty coached teenagers who had never been convicted of a crime on how to apply to have the DNA samples – taken as mouth swabs when they were arrested – destroyed. They were also advised on how to have their DNA profile erased from the national database.
The meeting at Maiden Lane Community Centre in Camden Town was organised by Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful Jo Shaw, a barrister and Liberty board member. She used the Freedom of Information Act in May to discover that 3,243 young people aged 10 to 17 had had their DNA profile stored after arrest by Camden police. It is not known how many were subsequently convicted.
Ms Shaw said: “DNA should be destroyed either if there’s a decision not to charge, or on acquittal if there is a charge. Children should have extra special rights and protections because they are more vulnerable members of society.”
The session with lawyers was staged before a report was released on Tuesday by the Human Genetics Commission. It said there was evidence that people were routinely arrested for the purpose of retaining their DNA, a claim strongly denied this year by Camden police and the Met. The commission, an independent government advisory body, said the profiles of 75 per cent of black males aged between 18 and 35 were now held.
The rules require applicants to prove that their case for having their data removed is “exceptional”.
Nigel Dayes, a youth and community work co-ordinator at Maiden Lane Community Centre, said: “The injustice side of it is very strongly felt. Young people, sometimes based on the way they are handled when they are arrested, fear frame-ups. It might sound far-fetched but that is the way they feel.” |
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