Police await DNA destruction ruling

23 September 2013 Last updated at 21:59 ET By Phil Mackie Reporter, BBC Radio 5 live

DNA samples taken from thousands of former prisoners could be destroyed if police lose a judicial review later.

An ex-prisoner, referred to in court as R, argues that a police force's request to collect his DNA threatens arrest and infringes his human rights.

Under Operation Nutmeg, DNA samples have been collected from prisoners who pre-date routine collection.

Judges will decide if the force's approach was unlawful and if DNA collected in such a way can be kept.

The police force at the centre of the case - which also cannot be named for legal reasons - was trying to collect the sample as part of Operation Nutmeg, a nationwide push to collect genetic material from people jailed for serious crimes before 1994.

After that date, people convicted of serious crimes had DNA swabs routinely taken to add to the national database.

The aim of the operation is to see if there is any match to unsolved crimes with DNA from the former prisoners.

By July of this year, 6,204 samples had been taken under the scheme, with 111 being matched to crime scenes.

R - who was jailed for manslaughter in the 1980s but after his release was only in trouble for a lesser, non-violent offence - argues that he has turned his life around since 2000.

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Police await DNA destruction ruling