2 Britons want DNA samples destroyed

Lawyers for two British citizens cleared of crimes asked the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday to order their DNA samples destroyed.

The case — which could lead to changes in British criminal law — concerns a 19-year-old man, identified only as S., charged as an 11-year-old in 2001 but acquitted, and 45-year-old Michael Marper, charged with harassing his partner that same year. The charges against him later were dropped.

Fingerprints and DNA samples taken from both plaintiffs continue to be stored in Britain, even though criminal proceedings against them were closed. Both have asked for the samples to be destroyed, but Britain's House of Lords threw out the requests.

Britain's DNA database, which holds some 4.5 million samples taken during criminal inquiries, is the world's largest, and people remain in it for life even if they are not prosecuted.

"The trend advocated by the U.K. government has, up 'til now, not been followed by other countries around the world," lawyer Peter Mahy told the Strasbourg-based court, adding that the case is the most important to date concerning the human rights implications of retaining biometric data.

The court said the men are concerned about the possible future uses of the samples and that their retention casts suspicion on people who have been acquitted of crimes or whose cases never go to trial. The two argue they have been discriminated against and their right to privacy breached.

A verdict is expected in several months. If the complaint is upheld, samples from people who are not convicted might have to be removed.

The case was heard days after two high-profile murders were solved in Britain thanks to matches in DNA taken after unrelated offenses.

"Any evidence that retained DNA samples or profiles have contributed towards the investigation of an offense is used to justify the retention of hundreds of thousands of additional samples," Mahy told the court.

Meg Hillier, an official with Britain's Home Office, defended the database, saying it played a vital role in identifying culprits of serious crimes. In 2005-2006, 45,000 crimes were matched against records on the database, including 422 homicides and 645 rapes.

"I think that demonstrates the value of the database," Hillier told British lawmakers on Tuesday.

But Mahy said there was no evidence that retention of DNA samples from those who have not been convicted has increased the detection of the crime rate.

Hillier acknowledged that more than half a million names on the database are wrong, often because the same individual was referred to by two or more false or misspelled names.