Police 'lured boy to give DNA'

Richard Barnes says he was not shown the form required before agreeing to a DNA sample. Picture / Dean Purcell.

The Police Complaints Authority has been called in over a claim an officer coerced a teenage boy into providing a DNA sample by letting him off a traffic fine.

Brenda Barnes of Remuera said her son Richard was pulled over on Quay St, downtown Auckland, on June 1 driving a manual car when his licence restricted him to an automatic.

"My son was advised that this offence carried a $400 fine but this would be waived if he agreed to give a DNA sample."

She said the 17-year-old, a student, could not afford the $400, and agreed to the mouth swab.

He had never been in trouble with the law before, and although the car was missing a rear bumper, it was not "souped up" or modified.

She has written a letter of complaint to Police Commissioner Howard Broad, saying the tactic bordered on "bribery".

Mrs Barnes was angry that police could take a DNA sample from a person under the age of 18 without the permission of a parent or guardian.

Auckland police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said the alleged behaviour of the officer was not standard practice, but his version of events would need to be established.

She said the Police Complaints Authority had been notified. "And our own professional standards unit is aware of the complaint and inquiries are being carried out as to what happened."

Anyone volunteering to give a bodily sample without parental authority had to be aged 17 or over and had to read, understand, and sign a four-page form.

Last night the student told the Herald he was not given a form to read, and had not signed anything.

"He [the officer] had a set of instructions and a plastic bag and was muttering to himself.

"He asked me where I was from, was I Caucasian and originally from New Zealand."

One of the clauses in the form states that consent may "generally" be withdrawn at any time by writing to the commissioner. The sample is then destroyed.

There are currently 62,638 samples on the national DNA database. About 10,000 samples are added each year.