Worthing DNA profile fight

Martin and Lorraine Denholm, of Henty Road, say the name of their 16-year-old son Grant is now "smeared" because his DNA sample is being retained, even though he was released without charge after being arrested during an incident in Worthing town centre on New Year's Eve.

Liberty International has taken up Grant's case, and Mr Denholm told the: "It is so unjust that Grant's DNA is still on the database.

"At the moment, it signifies that he has done something wrong.

"If innocent people like my son are on the database, then everybody should be on it. That is only just," he said.

The two British men seeking to have their DNA samples destroyed are a teenager, known only as "S", and 45-year-old Michael Marper.

They are seeking a ruling in Strasbourg that it is a breach of their human rights to keep their DNA profiles and fingerprints on record.

Readers' opinions

In January the Herald publicised the Denholm family's battle and held a readers' poll asking whether police should retain a person's DNA details if they are released without charge.

People agreed with the Denholm family, with 73 per cent saying no and 27 saying yes.

Despite the votes, comments were left on our website supporting the retaining of DNA.

One person said: "If the parents are confident that their son will not offend in the future then there will be nothing to fear from his DNA being kept on file because it would not be searched on.

"If he does offend in the future and is identified by his DNA then he has nobody to blame but himself for getting into trouble."

Another person wrote said: "People continually moan and whinge about spiralling crime rate and the spiralling costs in prevention.

"Well, we have the technology to enable faster resolutions to criminal activity and drive costs down, don't we? Let's use them."

In response, Mr Denholm said: "My son had done nothing wrong yet found himself arrested and in custody for nothing more than changing some money while queueing in the bank.

"My son spent eight hours in a cell, had his finger prints, photo and DNA taken for the crime of wrong place, wrong time."

What do you think?

How important is a national database of DNA?

Would you be happy to have your DNA stored?

Share your views, comment in the space below or:

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