Police win data deletion appeal – BBC News
“Five police forces which challenged a ruling that they should delete records on criminal convictions from their database have won their appeal.”
BBC News, 19th October 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: criminal records
Flawed vetting system that allowed an abuser to slip through the net – The Independent
“Few parents will have forgotten the day they handed over their child to a nursery worker or other carer for the first time. For many, the experience would have been tinged with a sense of guilt – but all will recall the overwhelming need to trust the person into whose hands you deliver the most precious thing in your life. The horrors that unfolded at Little Ted’s Day Nursery in Plymouth will increase the anxieties of couples who, with the aid of the Government, have turned to professional childcare in ever greater numbers over the past decade. According to the National Day Nurseries Association, 15,500 nurseries in Britain cater for 700,000 pupils. Pre-school children spend an average of 21 hours a week in nurseries, a study by the Department for Children, Schools and Families found recently.”
The Independent, 2nd October 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Doubts over DNA profile timing – BBC News
“Fresh doubts have emerged over proposals to limit how long the DNA profiles of innocent people can be held on the national database.”
BBC News, 25th September 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Vetting scheme for adults under review – The Guardian
“The government is to look again at the detailed operation of its controversial scheme to vet the 11 million adults who are in regular contact with other people’s children in the face of a public outcry that it could jeopardise ‘perfectly safe and normal activities’.”
The Guardian, 14th September 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Senior public figures join clamour against child protection database – Daily Telegraph
“Leading figures from education, politics and charity voice their concerns over the new ‘paedophile checks’.”
Daily Telegraph, 13th September 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Independent Safeguarding Authority could bar ‘lonely’ people from working with children – Daily Telegraph
“The Government’s new anti-paedophile database will take into account lifestyles, relationships and beliefs when assessing the backgrounds of more than 11million people, rather than just whether they have a criminal record. The Independent Safeguarding Authority can consider unproven allegations made in newspaper reports or tip-offs from members of the public, as well as trawling internet chatrooms and websites such as Facebook for evidence to use against applicants.”
Daily Telegraph, 8th September 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Row over £3m IT link leaves thousands of crimes off police computer – The Times
“Thousands of crimes are never put on to the police national computer because of a £3 million row over who should pay towards uploading them on to the IT system.”
The Times, 1st September 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Damian Green wins fight to destroy personal data held by Met police – The Guardian
“Fingerprints, DNA and records of Tory MP arrested over Home Office leaks deleted as ‘exceptional case’.”
The Guardian, 20th August 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
School protection register is flawed – The Independent
“The man whose inquiry led to new vetting procedures for adults working with children today calls on the Government to rethink parts of its controversial anti-paedophile register.”
The Independent, 6th August 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Criminal Records Bureau errors lead to hundreds being branded criminals – Daily Telegraph
“More than 1,500 people have been wrongly branded as criminals or mistakenly given a clean record by the government agency set up to vet those working with children, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.”
Full story
Daily Telegraph, 2nd August 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Teenage volunteers face prosecution unless they register with anti-paedophile database – Daily Telegraph
“Guidance for the controversial Independent Safeguarding Authority states that youths who want to help vulnerable groups will have to be vetted ‘in time for their 16th birthday to avoid committing an offence’.”
Daily Telegraph, 31st July 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
R (F and another) v Secretary of State for Justice – WLR Daily
R (F and another) v Secretary of State for Justice [2009] EWCA Civ 792; [2009] WLR (D) 25
“The absence of a right of review at any time of notification requirements imposed under s 82(1) and Sch 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was a disproportionate interference with an offender’s rights under art 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. As a matter of principle, an offender was entitled to have the question whether the notification requirements continued to serve a legitimate purposes determined on a review; and the case for granting a declaration of incompatibility pursuant to s 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 was even stronger in the case of young offenders than in the case of adult offenders. However, restriction on travel included in notification requirements did not infringe art 4 of Directive 2004/38.”
WLR Daily, 24th July 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Amending the law on the DNA database needs proper scrutiny – The Times
“Last December the European Court of Human Rights decided in S and Marper v The United Kingdom that the retention by the State of DNA profiles is a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. That is because information about people arrested for, or charged with, an offence but not subsequently convicted, is kept on the national DNA database for an unlimited period of time. The Government has accepted the judgment of the European court and announced that it will change the law to ensure compliance. But its proposed method of doing so is unsatisfactory and needs reconsideration.”
The Times, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Police fight data deletion ruling – BBC News
“Data about the criminal convictions of one million people could be deleted from police computers, the Court of Appeal has been told.”
BBC News, 22nd June 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Analysis: Soham loopholes still not closed – The Times
“The investigation into alleged child abuse at the Little Ted nursery is likely to consider whether the worker who was charged yesterday was subjected to the correct vetting process. Loopholes in vetting came to light after the Soham murders of 2002. Yet a new system designed to strengthen checks has yet to come into force, although ministers say they are confident that they will meet the latest deadline of this October.”
The Times, 11th June 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Teacher Matthew Wren wins battle to have DNA records deleted – The Times
“A teacher has won a High Court battle to have his DNA destroyed after he was unlawfully arrested by police when accused of assault by a pupil.”
The Times, 7th May 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Ucas may drop criminal disclosure rule for students – The Guardian
“The university admissions service, Ucas, is considering whether to drop a requirement for students to declare criminal convictions when they apply to university, following a high-profile case exposed by the Guardian.”
The Guardian, 28th April 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Paedophile alerts to be extended – BBC News
“A scheme giving parents details about sex offenders who may come into contact with their children is being extended.”
BBC News, 15th March 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
More than 1,000 police officers have criminal records, figures show – The Guardian
“More than 1,000 serving police officers have criminal convictions ranging from assault to burglary, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.”
The Guardian, 11th March 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Foster parents not warned of teen sex offender who raped their son – The Times
“Social workers failed to warn foster parents about sexual offences committed by a teenager placed in their care who went on to rape their two-year-old son and abuse their nine-year-old daughter.”
The Times, 3rd March 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
