GREATER Manchester Police is one of five forces who have launched a legal challenge to keep old criminal records of minor offences on the national computer database, the Court of Appeal was told.

They are challenging a ruling by the Information Commissioner, upheld by the Information Tribunal, that the holding of such records did not comply with the Data Protection Act.

David Jones, representing the police forces, told a panel of three Court of Appeal judges that the case had "very significant ramifications" for the keeping of conviction and caution records by the police generally.

He said: "The police contend that old and minor convictions records assist detective work and the investigation of criminal offences."

Mr Jones is acting for Humberside, West Midlands, Northumbria, Staffordshire and Greater Manchester police forces.

Under the Data Protection Act, personal information must be relevant, up-to-date, and not excessive. Informaiton can include fingerprints and DNA samples.

But under current policy, criminal records remain on the police national computer for up to 100 years.

One of the cases that came before the Information Commissioner was a record held by Humberside Police about the theft of a 99p packet of meat in 1984. The person involved, who was under 18 at the time, was fined £15.

The individual complained to the icommissioner after this record showed up in checks when he went for jobs. The tribunal ordered that their records should be deleted.

But Mr Jones said Sir Michael Bichard, who headed the inquiry after the Soham murders, had recommended keeping information on a central register after it was found that Ian Huntley had "slipped through the net" when he applied for a job as a school caretaker.

He said there was no evidence that the retention of the information had caused distress to the people involved.

"The (information) tribunal found that the distress would be occasioned by the fear that career prospects would be hampered by the disclosure of the convictions. This may well be so, but the distress arises as a result of the duty of an applicant to disclose all criminal history in any job application," Mr Jones said.

Proceeding