A DAD who battled to get his daughter’s genetic details removed from police records has welcomed a landmark judgement to destroy all DNA samples taken from innocent people after a court ruled holding them breached their human rights.

James Bristow, from Wilmslow, spent 13 months trying to get his daughter Caitlin’s DNA details erased from the national database after she was allegedly assaulted then arrested following a counter claim.

Although no charges were made the teenager had her DNA profile stored on police records which James fought to get removed.

Now the European Court of Human Rights has ordered that more than 1.6 million DNA and fingerprint samples be removed from databases after it severely criticised police powers to take and hold samples from suspects even if they are released or cleared.

It is a huge setback for the Government and police, who insist that storing the records is a key weapon in fighting crime.

But dad of four, James, said the move is a "victory for civil liberties".

He said: "I am very pleased that this has happened. I understand that it is useful to have DNA records but it is so simple to misuse it, and it has been misused. It took me 13 months to get my daughter’s details off the system after she went to the police station to claim she was assaulted by a gang. One of the gang said that Caitlin had assaulted her and she also had to have her photo, fingerprints and DNA taken. My daughter, who is now at university, wants to do certain jobs which would require her employers to carry out enhanced checks on her. This would have been a permanent blot on her record and as a result she would have been sidelined for every job she went for.  I was furious and this hung over her head for more than a year before Cheshire Police expunged the data from their records.

He added: "I really do feel that this is our last freedom and it is being eroded. Where will it all stop? The government argues it is the holy grail and necessary for solving crimes but less than .03 per cent of crimes are cleared up by DNA.  The people in this country are just prepared to lay down and accept this. It’s a slippery slope to Big Brother; a Stalinistic state. One day we will wake up and wonder what has happened to the place.  I would gladly give my DNA to solve a rape or murder if I thought it was necessary, providing it was removed afterwards.  My DNA is the essence of my soul and they can’t have my soul."

In their ruling the court condemmed the "blanket and indiscriminate nature" of powers given to police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and said retaining the information "could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society".

The court said that keeping the DNA samples and fingerprints of people acquitted of offences, or where proceedings were dropped, breached a person’s right to respect for private life. The 17 judges said the retention of the data stigmatised an individual.

An estimated 800,000 DNA samples are of people acquitted or whose cases never reached court, because charges against them were dropped or never brought.