Police ordered to delete criminal records

[Alpine]

Data Protection Act strikes back
FOUR UK POLICE FORCES have been ordered to delete criminal records dating back up to 30 years. The police have been ruled to be breaching the Data Protection Act by keeping records described by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas as 'irrelevant'.

The Old Bill is appealing against the ruling and says it has no plans to delete the data until that appeal is completed in 2008.

People applying for jobs were being rejected on the basis of criminal record checks showing such heinous crimes as the theft of a 99p packet of ham in 1984 and a 13 year old girl convicted of a minor assault who was told she would have a criminal record 'until her 100th birthday, when, presumably, she could expect a telegram and full pardon from Her Majesty the Queen.

In 1978, John Webb was 16 when he was caught using fake 1p and 10p coins in a fairground slot machine. Now aged 45, Webb complained after the conviction turned up during a job application.

The Information Commissioner told West Midlands, Humberside, Northumbria and Staffordshire forces that their records were in breach of data protection laws, adding that the data was 'no longer relevant' and that the information was of 'no possible use for policing purposes'.

An Association of Chief Police Officers spokesman said it was 'regrettable that the Information Commissioner has decided to go public on a matter that he knows will be subject of an Information Tribunal hearing early in the new year.'

The INQuirer