§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what class of offences DNA samples are(a) taken and (b) held even where prosecution does not proceed.[52942]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 26 April 2002]: Under the provisions of section 63 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), the police may taken non-intimate DNA samples from all those charged with, informed they will be reported for, or convicted of a recordable offence.
The police may also take a non-intimate sample from those suspected of a recordable offence where there were grounds for believing the sample will tend to confirm or disprove the suspect's involvement.
Samples can be taken with consent in any case.
Pursuant to section 64A of PACE samples may be retained in all cases, even following acquittal or a decision to drop a prosecution, except where the sample was taken as part of a mass screening process and the individual does not consent to the retention of the sample. Retained samples can only be used for purposes related to the prevention or detection of crime, the investigation of an offence or the conduct of a prosecution.