MP hits out at handling of lost police data

WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols has hit out at Home Secretary Priti Patel’s handling of a saga that saw over 400,000 police records of serious offences deleted.

The computer error includes the loss of some ongoing investigations, making it more difficult to catch some criminals, undermining the hard work of Cheshire Police at this difficult time.
The deleted records, which were held on the Police National Computer, includes fingerprint, DNA and arrest history records.
Since her election in 2019 Charlotte has fought hard to keep communities in Warrington North safe.
Ms Nichols said:“This scandal will make it more difficult for our local police to catch criminals and keep our streets safe.
“Priti Patel once told us she wanted criminals to ‘feel terror’ but under her watch they won’t even feel the full force of the law.
“The residents of Warrington North deserve far better than this.”
Cheshire Police and Commissioner David Keane said: “I’m really concerned about this loss of vital information, which is critical to keep us all safe.
“Police Chiefs are already aware of a number of near misses in identifying suspects of serious crimes and I am concerned that this has only made the job more challenging for our brave and hard-working officers.
“The first duty of the government is to keep citizens safe and the country secure.
“I join Charlotte in her call for immediate action to reinstate this vital data and for the government to take its role seriously in keepIng us all safe and secure.”
The UK’s crime and policing minister has blamed “human error” for the erasure of hundreds of thousands of DNA records and other data on criminal suspects from the
national police computer.
Last week Boris Johnson told the House of Commons the police were working “round the clock” to rectify the error.
Around 400,000 fingerprint, DNA and arrest records were deleted from the police database.
Earlier, the Home Secretary said it was not yet known whether any of the data had been permanently lost.