Record growth in DNA database

Britain's DNA database is being built by stealth, critics warned, as the Government admitted record numbers of profiles were added last year.

Many of the 722,464 new samples were taken by police from people who have never been convicted of – or even charged with – a criminal offence.

Britain now has a DNA database holding nearly five million samples – by far the largest in the world. Anyone picked up for an arrestable offence has to provide a DNA sample.

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) disclosed yesterday that police took 722,464 samples in 2006-07, compared with 700,825 in 2005-06 and 520,757 in 2004-05. The total number of DNA profiles held is estimated to be about 4.8 million. Some 350,000 of those taken last year were from children aged 14 and under.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said she was "shocked but not surprised". She said: "The Government and police have overplayed their hand and our postbag suggests they are out of step with the public."

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "The Government is rapidly building the world's biggest DNA database, by stealth. Guilt or innocence and the negative effect the database has on children and ethnic minorities are of no concern to ministers."

However, the NPIA said that while DNA made a relatively small contribution to all detections, it still made a powerful contribution in those cases for which it was available.

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