HalifaxSeagull
Active member
- Aug 24, 2010
- 772
A number of years ago I had my car stolen. The Police told me they had arrested someone, who turned out to be a known car thief, on the basis of DNA taken from a cigarette butt found in the car. (Stupid thief).
I initially feared that they may have the wrong person though. A friend of mine had been in the car a few days previously. He has a criminal record from when he was younger, and his DNA was taken at the time. As it happens all was well.
Part of me believes this is a good idea, but another part of me, the one that has a deep distrust of some of those in the Police, worries that some people could be implicated and wrongly prosecuted for crimes they didn't commit.
A lot of innocent people will have much trauma before being cleared of wrongdoing.
If you're friend had been identified by his DNA on a cig butt in your car, the police would approach you first to see if you knew him and if he had at some point a legitimate reason for the cig butt to be in your car... You'd have said yes and e would have been discounted from the offence...
If they cocked up in that and locked him up, then during interview he would have been able to account for the DNA hit in your car, this would have been confirmed this with you and he would have been NFA'd from the crime an released...