TAE said:
In this world of Blair's police, I'm quite sure that they could do that.
It's nothing to do with "this world of Blair's police." It has been the practice in cases of unexplained death where any suspicious circumstances exist since the old King died. Only the sample keeping bit is new.
I wouldn't say it's commonplace but it does sometimes happen if people are not forthcoming with true accounts (which therefore will pretty much agree). I have done it myself a few times.
There have to be grounds to provide reasonable suspicion of involvement, but contradictory stories or whahtever may be enough.
The alternative would be to allow everyone to go, to escape the jurisdiction, to destroy evidence, to concoct their stories or whatever, whilst waiting for the body to be recovered, post mortem to be completed, toxicology tests received .... (which may be days or weeks away).
Personally I think it is quite right and proper that arrest on suspicion is permitted for the greater good, but I really do think the keeping of samples taken in cases where it is later found to be there was no crime is mistaken. Either have a national database for everyone, or have a database of
convicted persons. This is, effectively, random. I also think society should tell the police that people properly arrested on suspicion and later exonerated should be provided with an
ex gratia compensation payment for their trouble. After all they, as an innocent person, have suffered an inconvenience on behalf of laws intended to protect us all.
