Cops ready to unleash a tagging spray that will link moped bandits to crime scenes

POLICE are ready to unleash a spray that will link moped bandits to crime scenes in the fight against the growing menace.

The liquid leaves an indelible chemical DNA footprint on clothing, equipment and bikes which is visible under ultraviolet light.

London’s Met are assessing how to safely “deliver” the tagging spray and use it to detect criminals later.

It comes as the force said last night the average age of moped robbers in the capital is 15. Many, they say, come in from the Home Counties during the school holidays.

But hamstrung officers are unable to give chase if the safety of the thugs is deemed to be at risk.

It gives moped thieves a licence to rob and they are averaging 54 crimes a day in London. Tyre-deflation devices have stopped some but now the spray is in the offing.

Det Supt Stuart Ryan, who heads the anti-moped crime blitz, said: “We’re trying to find a way we can safely deliver the spray both to the people on the bike, the community and officers. If delivered, it will be a very exciting change. It gives us a chance to track them in a different way.”

Concerns over moped robberies have been fuelled by the increasing use of acid as a weapon.

On Monday, a 47-year-old shopper was sprayed with suspected corrosive by two riders as they tried to grab his gold watch outside Harrods in Knightsbridge, West London.

They fled when two men intervened. The victim went to hospital.