Two Britons who were cleared of crimes brought a landmark human rights challenge yesterday to have their DNA samples destroyed.

The judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg were told that keeping DNA samples of innocent citizens was a breach of their human rights. Lawyers for the men, who are from Sheffield, told the court that retaining the information cast suspicion on people who had been acquitted of crimes or who had their cases dropped.

They asked the judges to rule that such people should be treated the same as British citizens who had not faced suspicion and who did not have to have their DNA and fingerprint samples on record.

To keep records of innocent people, the court heard, was a breach of the European Human Rights Convention, which guarantees “respect for private life” and the “prohibition of discrimination”.

The case comes just days after the convictions of two killers in Britain as a result of DNA matches. Steve Wright, the Suffolk Strangler, and Mark Dixie, who killed Sally Anne Bowman, were caught because their DNA had been taken in connection with unrelated offences.

Now Michael Marper, 45, and a teenager identified only as “S” are seeking a ruling that keeping their DNA profiles and fingerprints is a breach of their human rights.

Mr Marper was charged with harassing his partner in 2001 but the case was dropped after the reconciliation of the couple. S was charged with attempted robbery in the same year, but was acquitted. The men requested unsuccessfully that their information be destroyed. Their case was thrown out by the House of Lords so they lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.

Lawyers for the men argue that there are concerns about the possible future uses of the samples.

Peter Mahy, a human rights solicitor at Howells LLP in Sheffield, and Stephen Cragg, a barrister of Doughty Street Chambers in London, put their case at an oral hearing.

Mr Mahy said: “The whole issue of the security of personal details kept by the authorities has been thrust into the spotlight by a number of things recently, including the recent debacle concerning the loss of copies of child benefit database and the revelation that DNA samples were sent by the Dutch authorities on a disk, which sat on someone’s desk for over a year before anyone even looked at it.

“This is the most important case on the human rights implication of retaining biometric data and will probably one of the most important human rights cases of all time. ”

The judges’ ruling on the one-day hearing is expected this year.

The case could force the Home Office to scrap hundreds of thousands of DNA samples of people who currently have no convictions. The Home Office acknowledged that if the men win their case the DNA database of 4.5 million samples could be affected by the removal of profiles of people without any criminal convictions.

The Home Office said that the UK DNA database – the biggest in the world – had helped to identify criminals quickly and to clear up thousands of crimes that would have remained unsolved otherwise.

A call from a senior police officer for a compulsory DNA database to cover every resident in Britain was dismissed as impractical by the Home Office.

In Scotland most samples must be destroyed if the person is not charged or convicted.

Law and the lab

— Since April 5, 2004, police have been able to take and retain a DNA sample from a person arrested for a recordable offence but not charged, regardless of the outcome

— The Home Office described the National DNA Database as a “key intelligence tool”. It provides the police with about 3,000 matches each month

— Non-intimate DNA samples include hair, swabs from the mouth, under a nail, saliva or a footprint

— Blood, semen, urine or pubic hair require consent or the authorisation of a police inspector

— Crimes solved by DNA include the 1988 murder of Lynette White, a prostitute, in Cardiff. Her killer was jailed for life in 2003

— The UK database is the world’s biggest, covering 5.2 per cent of people

Sources: Home Office, Times database

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• The best legal yarns this Christmas
• Legal school 'earned £1m by exploiting bar course'
• Axe may fall on 5,000 more City lawyers