Police take DNA samples from children every ten minutes

Under-10s are below the age of criminal responsibility, but police say the figures include those who are victims of crime or from whom the DNA is taken to rule them out as suspects.

The Home Office claim that the practice is crucial in the fight against crime.

However, Frances Crook, the chief executive of the Howard League, said that it showed children were being treated as hardened criminals.

She said: When public money is tight and police forces are shrinking, it is disappointing to see valuable crime-fighting resources being wasted on taking DNA samples from thousands of innocent children while serious offences go undetected.

Children who get into trouble with the police are usually just up to mischief. Treating so many like hardened criminals by taking their DNA seems excessive.

We welcome the Government's decision to stop storing innocent people's DNA indefinitely, but it remains unclear how this will affect the number of children having their DNA taken needlessly.

During 2011, 53,974 DNA samples were taken from children by forces in England and Wales, including 368 ten-year-olds and 1,030 11-year-olds.

The total is down on 2010, when nearly 70,000 samples from under 18s were taken by police.

This year new rules will come into effect which mean that any child convicted of a serious crime such as a sexual or violent attack, burglary or terrorism will have their DNA profile held indefinitely, as will under 18s who are convicted of two minor crimes.

However, child suspects arrested over serious crimes but either not charged or cleared at trial will have their profiles deleted after five years, and police will be unable to hold profiles of those accused of minor offending who are not convicted.

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Police take DNA samples from children every ten minutes