Tens of Thousands of Children Have Their DNA Stored by Police, Even if They are Not Charged With Any Crime

Tens of thousands of children as young as ten are having their DNA swabbed and stored by police forces across the country, even if they are not charged with any offence.

One force admitted taking samples from more than 14,000 youngsters between the ages of ten and 17 over a period of three years.

Devon and Cornwall police say 14,383 children were arrested between 2007 and 2010 and that DNA was taken from the vast majority of them.

And those DNA records can be kept until the suspect reaches the unlikely age of 100 years old.

Not all police forces take DNA samples from suspects of crimes, but under Home Office guidelines they can legally take them from anyone over the age of criminal responsibility, which is currently ten years old.

Prison reform and children rights’ campaigners describe the revelation as ‘bonkers’ and said the DNA details should not be kept. They say while there are no official figures to confirm, the number of youngsters whose DNA has been stored could have run into the hundreds of thousands.

According to...