Crimes missed due to DNA 'failures'

The offences included one paedophile offence, three robberies, nine burglaries, 19 drugs offences and 62 thefts.

Ministers were first told of the problem in summer 2005 but it was only admitted to publicly on Thursday, with publication of the National DNA Database's annual report.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said it was a "shambles" which showed the database needed significant reform.

The report disclosed more than 26,000 DNA profiles were not added to the archive between 1995 and 2004.

A review - which ran from September 2005 until January last year - led to 1,168 "matches" between forensic samples from crime scenes and DNA profiles on the system. Of those, 355 were "first time" matches which had not come to anyone's attention before the failures were investigated. The 355 matches were sent to police for further investigation, leading to 85 suspects being identified for 183 crimes, a Home Office spokesman said.

It comes the day before the Forensic Science Service was expected to face criticism in an official report in its handling of evidence in the case of Damilola Taylor.

Blood from the 10-year-old - who was stabbed to death in Peckham, south London - was missed in 2000 when the trainers and jumpers of two suspects were examined. A re-examination in 2004 lead to the conviction of two brothers.

The Home Office said the 183 offences also included 13 cases of criminal damage, an arson, one case of cannabis production, nine public order offences, seven drink-drives, five cases of intimidating a witness or juror, two of perverting the course of justice, two of carrying an offensive weapon, a car theft and one benefit fraud. There was also one case of a sex offender failing to notify their name or address to police.

Of the 26,000 profiles, 5,000 could not be loaded on to the database for "technical or legal reasons", the report said. It remains unknown how many offenders might have been caught if these 5,000 could have been processed.