Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Anne Moffat (Labour). It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Monday, 23 March 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.

Serious Convictions (DNA Evidence)

Question: What estimate she has made of the number of convictions for serious crimes which relied on evidence from DNA samples retained on the national DNA database in the last 12 months.

Answer: The national DNA database plays a key role in catching criminals, including many years after they might think that they have got away with their crime, eliminating the innocent from investigations, and focusing the direction of inquiries. In 2007-08, 17,614 crimes were detected in which a DNA match was available. Those included 83 homicides and 184 rapes. In addition, there were a further 15,420 detections resulting from the original case involving the DNA match. Those occur when, for example, a suspect, on being presented with DNA evidence linking him to one offence, confesses to further offences.

Secondary information