The proposed DNA library could land innocents in prison Home Secretary Jack Straw has been defending the government's proposal that anyone arrested for an offence for which they could be jailed should have to give a DNA sample. It means that those accused of shoplifting or drink driving would be liable to give the sample, although if they are not convicted there should be no record kept. The announcement once again raises questions about the reliability of DNA evidence, thought of by many people as conclusive. Some fear that the innocent will be wrongly convicted. Professor Shaw said the problem with this is we will never really know how many had been locked in prison because of DNA matches who are innocent.
People do regard DNA evidence as being very strong.
In his keynote speech to the Labour Party conference in September, Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Government wanted to set up a national DNA library. He announced his plan that anyone arrested and taken to a police station for all but minor offences would face compulsory DNA testing. Under current legislation, if a suspect is tested and later found to be above suspicion, their DNA sample is destroyed once someone is convicted. A Home Office consultation paper said the samples would only be stored with the donor's consent, and would be kept on a separate database to the National DNA Database, which contains the genetic fingerprints of 600,000 offenders - the biggest in the world. Guilty until proven innocent Professor Shaw said the proposed library could mean that innocent people become suspects, just because their DNA is close to that of the offender.