West Yorkshire Police hand forensic sprays to domestic abuse victims to help secure convictions

By Rebecca Marano
Published 20th Feb 2022, 04:45 BST
Officers have begun distributing SmartWater, a coded liquid which is invisible to the naked eye but which glows under ultraviolet light, to women in Yorkshire and Staffordshire.Officers have begun distributing SmartWater, a coded liquid which is invisible to the naked eye but which glows under ultraviolet light, to women in Yorkshire and Staffordshire.
Officers have begun distributing SmartWater, a coded liquid which is invisible to the naked eye but which glows under ultraviolet light, to women in Yorkshire and Staffordshire.
Dozens of domestic abuse victims have said they feel safer after being given a forensic spray to use against their attackers, police have said.

Officers have begun distributing SmartWater, a coded liquid which is invisible to the naked eye but which glows under ultraviolet light, to women in Yorkshire and Staffordshire.

Responding to a police survey, 76% of women who have been given a canister said they felt safer, and 62% said they saw a reduction in incidents such as their attacker breaching a restraining order.

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Some 93% of the 55 respondents also said they would recommend the spray to others.

West Yorkshire Police began rolling the substance out to domestic abuse victims in August 2021.

The force secured the first conviction using it on January 17 this year after a perpetrator turned up at a victim’s address in Wakefield.

Following his arrest, SmartWater was detected on his clothes and he was jailed for 24 weeks for breach of a non-molestation order and harassment.

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