POLICE FORCES UNDER PRESSURE OVER EUROPE EVIDENCE DEMANDS

THE TELEGRAPH - ROSA PRINCE

Police forces risk being swamped by demands from foreign countries for DNA and other evidence under plans for a new Europe-wide investigation warrant.

Civil liberties groups have warned that, for example, police investigating a fight at a nightclub in Spain could demand that British police take the DNA of anyone from this country who had travelled there at the time.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said: “Huge amounts of police time could be wasted dealing with unreasonable demands for evidence issued by prosecutors across the EU.

“The cost to our privacy could also be enormous. Police officers from Portugal to Poland would have free rein to demand recordings of our private conversations, copies of our bank statements and even our DNA.

“They could demand this even if they are only investigating the most minor offences and you don’t even need to be the suspect.”

Mr Russell said that there were fears that if Britain opted out of the scheme, however, prosecutors in the rest of the EU could put requests from police in this country “to the bottom of the pile,” potentially jeopardising major investigations into drug trafficking, child pornography or terrorism.

He called on the Government to use its influence to argue for the scheme to be delayed, and redrafted.