Scrapping DNA database will help rapists, says Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown today attacked David Cameron's plans to scrap the DNA database, saying rapists would get off.

He cited the case of Jeremiah Sheridan who raped a wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy sufferer in her home 19 years ago and was last year convicted thanks to DNA samples.

"Next time you hear somebody question the value of retaining DNA profiles from those arrested but not convicted, remember Jeremiah Sheridan," he said. "Most of all remember the innocent woman he attacked."

Speaking to police in Reading, he also accused the Tory leader over his use of crime statistics, saying: "You don't tackle the fear of crime by cultivating it, by ramping up a public sense of panic, by abusing the figures and claiming our society is broken."

The Prime Minister promised to give the victims of serious anti-social behaviour a "guarantee of protection". He said these victims should be helped to obtain legal injunctions, with the costs paid by the agencies who had let them down.