Teen wants his DNA out of British database

LONDON, April 9 (UPI) -- A British teenager says police have no right to keep his DNA sample and fingerprints, taken after he was arrested on a bus.

The boy, a Wolverhampton resident who was 15 at the time of his arrests, was cleared of obstruction and of refusing to leave the bus. But Staffordshire Police rejected a request from his lawyers to destroy the sample, the fingerprints and photographs.

At a hearing Tuesday, two judges ruled that the teen is entitled to a full hearing, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Alex Bailin, who represented the teen at the High Court hearing, said the national database includes DNA from about 900,000 juveniles. At least 100,000 have not been convicted of a crime.

John Halford, the teen's lawyer, called his arrest "ridiculous." The arrest stemmed from alleged fare evasion and a police investigation later called it "unnecessary."