A 15-year-old boy has admitted 22 offences after his DNA sample linked him to 15 burglaries.

In another DNA success, a sample placed an offender at the scene of 27 crimes in Sussex and neighbouring counties.

Sussex Police made 447 DNA matches during 1999-2000 and they expect the number to almost double to 800 in the current year.

Chief Constable Paul Whitehouse said the recent decision to DNA test everyone arrested in Sussex for any recordable offence was paying dividends.

He said it was proving so effective that an offender may think twice about continuing a life of crime.

Mr Whitehouse, in a report to the Sussex Police Authority, said scientific support can never replace policing at ground level.

But he added: "However, this enhanced ability to link known offenders to the scenes of their crimes greatly increases the likelihood of them being arrested.

"Forensic science offers us powerful support not only in our drive to increase detections but in crime reduction too, as the active criminal becomes aware of its power and may be deterred from committing further offences."

The chief reported how the force's scientific support officers made 215 identifications in May, 40 more than its previous highest monthly figure.

More than 150 of the "hits" came from fingerprints and 65 from DNA.

The National Automated Finger- print Identification System (NAFIS), piloted in Sussex, is now fully operational and is scheduled to be introduced across all forces by the end of next year.

Mr Whitehouse said: "It has taken the science of fingerprinting out of the Sherlock Holmes era and into the computer age."

With screen access to six million fingerprints nationally, the system can provide almost instant identification.

In the past, two fingerprint officers might spend weeks at Scotland Yard laboriously searching for a match.

Mr Whitehouse said: "Now, following a recent stabbing in Brighton, a suspect was identified within five minutes."

Of the 1,125 identifications made in Sussex in the past year, 450 resulted from "cold searches" on the computer, few of which would have been possible under the old system.

Of those, 100 came from fingerprints outside Sussex, a number the chief believes will grow as other forces introduce NAFIS.