Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, whose pioneering discoveries revolutionised police investigation techniques, told the Guardian newspaper innocent people were being "branded as criminals" because the database retained details of everyone arrested, regardless of whether they were later convicted. The Government now holds more than five million profiles, up 1.4 million in two years. Sir Alec also called for improved genetic testing procedures, warning that the current system could result in a miscarriage of justice, in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.
Alec Jeffreys is the inventor of genetic fingerprinting.