Domestic violence campaigners want widespread use of SmartWater spray
DOMESTIC violence campaigners have called for a forensic spray capable of identifying abusers to be made available in Ireland.
It comes after a man became the first person to be convicted in the UK with the help of the spray, called SmartWater.
The forensic traceable liquid can be sprayed onto surfaces and when the abuser touches that surface they can then be linked to the scene.
And according to Priscilla Grainger, founder of the frontline support group Stop Domestic Violence in Ireland, if the
‘This spray would be ideal for victims’
spray was sold here more violent perpetrators would be brought to justice.
Ms Grainger, who co-founded the group with her daughter Ainie, told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘This spray would be ideal for victims to have, especially those who are been constantly abused by their abusers even when barring, protection and safety orders are in place. The abusers breach them [orders] but the difficulty is proving they have breached the orders.’
Two weeks ago a man from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was given a 24-week sentence and a two-year restraining order for harassing his ex-partner and for also breaching a non-molestation order that stipulated he not contact her.
The conviction was secured with the help of the forensic spray because the man’s ex-partner had applied the liquid to a window at her home before he arrived.
As a result, when police began to investigate the incident they were able to place the offender at the scene because they were able to link the liquid on the window to him.
The woman at the centre of the case is one of more than 200 women in England who have SmartWater in their homes. It can be sprayed on a surface, skin, or clothes.
Each SmartWater kit contains a handheld canister of liquid, a gel that can be used on door handles and gates, as well as an automatic trap that sprays the forensic fluid on an unwelcome visitor if they approach a house.
The fluid in each kit has a unique code so it can easily link a perpetrator to whatever they touch. It remains on skin for up to six weeks and on clothes and other surfaces for even longer. And when ultra-violet light is shone on a surface sprayed with the liquid or on an offender’s skin, the UV light transforms the heretofore invisible fluid to a fluorescent, yellow-coloured substance.
Ms Grainger said: ‘This [spray] would have their DNA. Most abusers walk free or the case is struck out due to lack of evidence but this would mean that if they had broken a cup or a glass or a window that had been sprayed with this liquid, then there would be evidence.
‘Anything to help convict domestic violence abusers, be they male or female, would be a great help.’
Police forces in West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Staffordshire in England are now using the forensic spray to help them deal with domestic violence incidents.
SmartWater Intelligence Unit director Rachael Oakley insists the product is ‘100% accurate’. She told the MoS: ‘SmartWater is made of a combination of rate elements that would never be found naturally anywhere else in the world. Every bottle has a different amount of those particles within it and each batch is unique, meaning we can tell categorically which batch of liquid is found. Our database is the forensic link to that person.’