Locals ‘too scared to go out’ as police use forensic spray to tackle criminal e-bike riders

Nicholas Thomas, Local Democracy Reporter

DNA spray is being explored by a Welsh police force as a way to identify illegal or nuisance riders of electric bikes, after residents of one ward said that they were “too scared to go out after dark”.

Cllr Debbie Harvey, who represents the Alway ward on Newport City Council, said that the community was plagued by antisocial behaviour, including the nuisance riding of off-road and electric bikes “all over the place and causing absolute mayhem”.

“Nothing seems to be fixing the problem,” she told a council meeting on Wednesday, adding: “We’ve got PCSOs out on the beat, we’ve got our local force, but nothing is fixing the fact people are too frightened to go out after 4.30pm.”

Her comments came during a question and answer session with Gwent Police’s Chief Inspector, Stevie Warden. He replied that the force was using modern technology to tackle “ever-developing” issues with electric bikes.

He added that bikes had previously been an issue in rural areas, but the problem was spreading further to urban settings, becoming a tool for other criminal activity as they become increasingly “cheaper, quicker and readily available”.

In response, the police force is changing their approach. The chief inspector explained they have had to “look at what we can do legally and what we can utilise with technology”.

DNA spray, which is used to “tag” and later track down riders, is key to this approach.

A previous pilot by the borough council in Watford clarifies that the spray “marks the bikes, clothing and skin of any riders and passengers with a uniquely coded but invisible dye that will provide irrefutable forensic evidence to link them to a specific crime”.

The dye is “only detectable by UV light [and] remains on skin and clothing for several months after application”, according to the report.

‘Keep us in mind’

Separately, Cllr Stephen Cocks appealed for more work to tackle antisocial behaviour in his Caerleon ward. He thanked the local PCSO’s “brilliant work” but admitted there’s “very little for youngers to do” at night in the area.

Teenagers “tend to congregate in extremely large numbers” around a Sainsbury’s shop and “cause considerable nuisance” for other people, he explained.

Cllr Cocks called for the chief inspector to “keep us in mind” when planning how to use resources across Newport.

The Chief Inspector accepted that Caerleon “does attract” antisocial behaviour, but said officers were deployed “where they can be most effective”. He added:

“I want to give trust and confidence to people living in that community,”

“If it’s identified, [we] will go back and make sure we are putting the right things in place.”