Peter Mahy
Howells

Who? Peter Mahy, 33-year-old partner and head of civil liberties at Howells in Sheffield.

Why is he in the news? Acted on two test cases rejected by the House of Lords this week in a ruling that will allow police to keep DNA and fingerprint records of people who have been acquitted of charges, or had charges against them dropped. One case concerned an 11-year-old boy who had asked for his fingerprints to be destroyed after being acquitted of attempted robbery. The second was brought by Michael Marper, who had asked police to destroy his DNA sample and fingerprints after his partner dropped charges of harassment.


Background: LLB at Sheffield University, graduating in 1993, then masters at Cambridge University. Legal practice course at Newcastle University 1995-96, then training contract with Howells.


Route to the case: Both were existing clients of the firm, and Mr Mahy had previously been successful in bringing judicial review proceedings in relation to the fingerprints of clients who had been cautioned.


Thoughts on the case: ‘This judgment means that the police can now keep the DNA records of people who are innocent. I am very surprised that four of the five law lords found this doesn’t even engage article 8 of the Human Rights Act, the right to private and family life - that goes against most people’s common sense. If it is the government’s intention to create a national DNA/fingerprint database, they should say so. But they are trying to do it through the back door because there would be public outrage otherwise.’


Dealing with the media: ‘There has been a lot of media attention, but in fact there was even more when the case was in the Court of Appeal. I have appeared on BBC television and on the radio. Generally, the press coverage has been good and the case has been reported well.’