Stephen Cragg and Azeem Suterwalla, instructed by Peter Mahy of Howells Solicitors, have received a successul verdict in their case to challenge the right of police to retain fingerprints and DNA samples taken from innocent people.

Members of the legal team who have led a long-running challenge to the right of the police to retain fingerprints and DNA samples taken from innocent people are today celebrating the success of their case, which they presented at an oral hearing in front of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights earlier this year.

Solicitor Peter Mahy, a human rights specialist at Sheffield-based Howells LLP, said that today's decision will have far-reaching implications for the whole issue of personal details being kept by public authorities.

"This is a fantastic result after a seven year hard fought battle against the UK government . We are obviously delighted that the European Court of Human Rights found in our clients' favour. It will be very interesting to see how the government respond - they should start immediately to destroy the DNA records of innocent people on the DNA database.

"This is the strongest judgement I have ever seen, with Europe's top 17 judges unanimously ruling that innocent people's DNA should not be retained. There is a very clear principle here that innocent people should not be disadvantaged in any way. The state needs to deal with the public fairly. If you are innocent, you should be put back in the same position you were before you were arrested, so your DNA should not be kept."

In a landmark decision made today, European judges backed the rights of about a million innocent people, including tens of thousands of innocent children, who have had their DNA kept indefinitely by the police.

The court ruled that the Government had failed to justify the indefinite retention of innocent people's DNA samples and records on the National DNA Database.

The judgement vindicates the decision made by Scotland in 2006, when moves to retain the DNA of innocent people indefinitely were rejected by the Scottish Parliament because of the threat to civil liberties and the lack of evidence of benefit.

Following the judgment, the Government is already committed to holding a consultation on the provisions for taking and retaining DNA and fingerprints under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

For the judgement click here

To read the ECHR Press Release click here

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