CHILDREN as young as 10 are having their DNA sampled by police every single day.
Ten swabs are being taken from youngsters aged 17 and under by Gloucestershire officers each week.
Clurisa Esson, 20, from Robinswood, was cautioned for common assault after pushing a girl at school when she was 12, and was DNA tested.
Both remain on her record and come up when she goes for a job.
"A girl was being bullied and I just pushed the bully to tell her to leave her alone," said Clurisa. "My school asked my mum to take me to the police station for a ticking off. Suddenly, I was being fingerprinted and giving a DNA sample.
"Now, I work as a carer and the common assault comes up on my Criminal Records Bureau check. It haunts me when I go for a job.
"They said it would come off my record when I was 18, but it hasn't and they still have my DNA."
Figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform reveal officers took swabs from eight primary school children – two 10-year-olds and six 11-year-olds in 2011 – and 507 boys and girls aged 17 or under including a baby.
Police can retain indefinitely the DNA of anyone they arrest for a recordable offence. A new law, imposing tighter restrictions on DNA retention, is expected to come into force later this year.
Youth worker Vanessa Worrall, project manager at Together in Matson, said she understood concerns but saw its value.
"DNA testing protects both young people and our community," she said. "It can stop re-offending, and if an offence is committed, it will make it easier to catch that person – and put in the interventions in place to stop them from committing crime again. Is there a difference between DNA and fingerprints?"
A Gloucestershire Police spokeswoman said: "The DNA was taken (from the baby) as part of paternity testing for a sexual assault investigation, which led to a conviction. Following this the sample was destroyed. Gloucestershire police do not routinely take DNA from children under 10."
