Government misplaces disc of DNA profiles

LONDON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A computer disc with DNA profiles of 2,000 people wanted in the Netherlands was misplaced for more than a year after the British government received it.

When the disc surfaced and was sent to the National Policing Improvement Agency, investigators found 15 matches with people in the British DNA data base, The Times of London reported. Eleven of them were suspected of committing crimes in Britain.

Conservative members of Parliament demanded that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith explain when her department learned of the disc. The Home Office said it was not involved, that the disc had been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service in the Attorney General's Office.

The CPS said that the profiles on the disc involved DNA found at crime scenes where suspects had not been arrested.

There have been a series of incidents involving laptops or computer discs containing personal information being lost or stolen from government agencies. Most recently, a laptop holding information on 600,000 people was stolen from a British naval officer's car.