Five police forces have won an appeal against having to delete old, minor convictions from their databases. The chief constables from Humberside, Staffordshire, Northumbria, West Midlands and Greater Manchester challenged an earlier decision by the Information Tribunal which could have resulted in the removal of about a million convictions.
The three court of appeal judges agreed with the chief constables that the loss of data could be detrimental in helping officers prevent crime, the Press Association reported.
"If the police say rationally and reasonably that convictions, however old or minor, have a value in the work that they do, that should, in effect, be the end of the matter," said Lord Justice Mark Waller.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said the ruling was a valuable clarification on the retention of criminal conviction data on the Police National Computer.
"The ramifications of losing the appeal were potentially huge," said spokesman Ian Readhead. The test case involved the convictions of five people, but could have had implications on about a million others.