"Hundreds if not thousands of people.." Or, as the article states, 120. Which isn't hundreds or thousands.

"police are promising tough action against anyone who refuses to be force tested" - No they haven't. It's voluntary. It may make it easier for them to narrow down who they investigate, but given that they know it was someone very local, anyone living in the area faced a chance of being investigated anyway.

"In other words anyone refusing to be mass DNA tested will be arrested and held under threat of having their life ruined by been named to the press as a arrested suspect." No, they can't arrest anyone for refusing. And they'd rightly get it deep trouble if they leaked the names of those who had to the press.

"This is a disgusting breach of every human right we hold." If it's a limited number of people who live nearby, and the data's not being kept, this seems more sensible than other kinds of profiling.

"The samples will only be used for this investigation and not put on the National DNA Database unless requested by the person, police said."

Bullshit. Anyone who believes that is incredibly naive.

Who's to say this isn't a sting that is nothing to do with the purported crime but just police wanting to get people's DNA for more general reasons?

If they get away with this then every Citizen is a suspect in every crime, the police just round you all up like some Gestapo, DNA test you and Criminalise anyone who refuses.
This is like some horror story from 1984.
I am not a suspect in other peoples crimes.
ABSOLUTE outrage !

Every police force in the UK has been given a remit by the government that every crime is to be investigated by the use of DNA. All outstanding crimes that are either unsolved, pending or investigated in the past is to be re-opened now that DNA is available as an investigative resource.

The police know about this and the best way to 'deliver' on this 'challenge' is to get to a point where everybodys DNA is on record. This story might not be a formal attempt to get this but it is part of the relentless campaign to encourage every UK citizen to 'feel warmly' about DNA testing.

Why would the police carry out arrests if they know that there is no chance of a court conviction? Why would the police carry out arrests for the most slight of reasons? Why do the police spend so much time trying to fabricate arrests? Why do the police spend most of their time 'looking' for offences and assuming everybody to be a criminal?

Because it helps to get them to that magic target. Every UK citizen on the database.

This story is just one piece in a very big puzzle that one day, will make absolute totalitarian sense.

Why wait till then, why not smack it in the face now?

Det Ch Insp Paul Barton:

"I would question anyone that wouldn't want to assist the police to detect this murder."

Voluntary DNA tests maybe, but In his own words he is going to question all the people who choose not to attend. I cannot see how he could do this without arresting all of them.

The police seem to thinking that someone local tortured and murdered a 77 year old lady for her pin number to a bank card.

Tortured her then finished her off with a rolling pin.

As long as all the coppers put their DNA in also, I don't see a problem.

Obviously if it's voluntary it's pointless as the guilty wouldn't volunteer. I agree with this.

All coppers DNA is taken and registered on the day they join and regardless of the offence it is compared.

The first response to this artical sort of said it all.

Or as a lot of people seem to have seen it
"filthy murdering pig/nazis want to stop freedom at all costs,including murdering an old woman to force a dna database on us all, then sell it to glaxo....etc"

do you know why noone takes activism seriously