TheCrown Prosecution
Service(CPS) ignored a disc sent by Dutch
police to check the DNA records of 2,000 of their dangerous wanted
criminals against records in the British police DNA database, for
over a year.
The Dutch police asked the UK in January 2007 to see if any of
their suspects, whose DNA details were contained on a compact disc
sent to the CPS, were in Britain. According to news reports,
investigations began last week showed there were 15 matches 11 were
connected to recent crimes, including rape and murder, in the
UK.
The
BBC reported the disc had been left in the desk of an officer
while he was on sick leave.
The CPS said in a statement, "We can confirm that DNA profiles
of around 2,000 unknown individuals were sent by a foreign
jurisdiction to the CPS to facilitate a check against the national
DNA database. These are profiles relating to unsolved crimes in
that country. This is not a data security issue as this information
was always in a secure building and did not leave the possession of
the CPS."
A Home Office spokesman said, "As this information relates to
ongoing police investigations it would be inappropriate to provide
any more detail at this stage."
Similar exchanges of DNA and other personal data, including
vehicle ownership, takes place regularly between the law
enforcement agencies of signatories to the
Prüm Treaty.
With over 4.5 million DNA records, the UK
police DNA database is the world's largest such store of
information. It includes the records of more than half a million
people who have never been charged with a crime.