MSPs back blood tests demand

Officers have a "difficult and dangerous" job

Police officers in Scotland have won the support of the Scottish Parliament to make blood tests compulsory for suspects.

The Scottish Police Federation said up to 150 officers a year faced an agonising wait to find out if they had been infected by HIV or hepatitis after being attacked while making an arrest.

The federation lodged a petition at the parliament urging the introduction of compulsory tests.

In response, the parliament's petitions' committee said it would write to the Scottish Executive asking what action it planned to take to address the problem.

An executive spokesman said that while it sympathised with the officers' plight, human rights issues would have to be considered.

We must protect the public, but in return the Scottish police look to the public through the Scottish Parliament to protect them

Douglas Keil
Scottish Police Federation

The committee on Tuesday heard directly from one officer, Strathclyde Police constable Raymond Pratt.

He was involved in the arrest of a drug addict in Glasgow who allegedly spat into his mouth and sprayed him with blood shouting: "I've got HIV, I hope you die."

The suspect refused to submit himself to a blood test and Constable Pratt had to wait three months for his own medical clearance to come through.

The strain was so bad on his pregnant wife that she suffered a miscarriage.

'Ludicrous situation'

"On that occasion I was told it was easier for me to submit to a test and therefore wait for three months, with all the consequences which followed, than it was for the suspect to be tested," Constable Pratt said.

"It seemed to me a ludicrous situation, because it led to the event of my wife losing her baby.

"It was a thing my wife didn't understand as well - how someone could do this and deliberately not undergo a test?"

MSPs are seeking more information

"This was the first time I had been assaulted when it had a direct impact on my family and my life outside the police service."

Scottish federation general secretary Douglas Keil said officers had a "difficult and often dangerous job".

"Regardless of the circumstances, we must protect the public, but in return the Scottish police look to the public through the Scottish Parliament to protect them," he said.

The federation sought measures that would "relieve unnecessary anxiety to officers on the front line," he added.

'Close contact'

Committee convenor John McAllion said he would write to the executive asking what action it planned to take.

Mr McAllion, the Labour MSP for Dundee East, said he would highlight the use of breath testing as a precedent for a change in the law.

He said he also wanted to know whether compulsory blood testing could be extended to cover other frontline staff, such as healthcare workers.

The committee would also write to civil liberties groups and insurance companies to seek their views on the issues.

Responding to the move, a spokesman for the executive said it would be keeping in "close contact with developments".

"The executive is sympathetic to the proposals the Police Federation have made, but as always in such circumstances there will be human rights issues to consider," he said.