Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Police, Crime and Disorder, has launched an online petition to stop the DNA of innocent people being kept indefinitely on the National Police Database.

Ms. Featherstone has revealed the extent of this ‘database by stealth’ which already contains the DNA of over 140,000 innocent people who have had their DNA taken and kept – even though they have never even been charged with a criminal offence – nearly 25,000 of which records are on children.

Ms Featherstone comments:

“There is no purpose or justification for keeping the DNA record of anyone who is not charged with an offence. We cannot be absolutely certain that there will be no misuse of the DNA Database and there are no real safeguards in place to control it.

“With the growing concern about racial profiling and disproportionality in criminal investigations and now even treating even children as permanent suspects – the need to keep innocent people on the DNA Database indefinitely is not only questionable but completely unacceptable.”

People wishing to sign this petition should visit http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/dna