Killer's DNA challenge rejected by judges

The 54 year-old man had claimed his right to private and family life was infringed by new laws which allow police to take swabs from serious criminals whose convictions pre-date 1994, when collection of DNA material became routine.

The ex-prisoner, who can only be identified by the initial R, was jailed for three years for manslaughter in 1984 and later served another prison term for kidnapping.

Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Hickinbottom, sitting in Birmingham, dismissed R's application for judicial review and said the polices request for his genetic sample was lawful and proportionate.

The judges ruled that the police forces initial letter to R in March last year was unlawful because officers had not correctly followed procedures.

But a later demand for his DNA, in April last year, was legal and officers were fully justified in concluding that the public interest in the detection of crime outweighed the limited interference with the claimants private life, said the judges.

The police force at the centre of the case, which cannot be named for legal reasons, wanted the DNA as part of a Operation Nutmeg, a programme across England and Wales to collect genetic material from 11,000 people jailed for serious crimes before 1994.

Samples taken as part of Operation Nutmeg are compared with the National DNA Database to see if they can be linked with any unsolved crimes.

R is now considering whether to appeal against the ruling.

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Killer's DNA challenge rejected by judges