Tattoo helped police track criminal

3:10pm Tuesday 7th October 2008

A car criminal who gave police everything they needed to know to track him down from a tattoo on his neck has been jailed.

Aaron Evans, 21, was captured on camera breaking into a police "honeypot" car in Bristol and identified by a tattoo of his surname and date of birth on the side of his neck.

Evans, of no fixed address, was sentenced to seven months in prison after admitting theft from a motor vehicle at Bristol Magistrates' Court.

He was arrested on August 30 after breaking into a covert capture car parked in a city centre car park and stealing a satellite navigation system.

The camera got a clear view of Evans' neck which allowed police to easily identify him.

Covert capture cars are laden with a bounty of tempting items for a car thief to steal such as satellite navigation systems, handbags, car stereos and mobile phones.

Avon and Somerset Police said that in the past two years more than 200 people have been arrested for offences using covert capture cars and Bristol has seen a reduction in car crime of 21%.

Superintendent Ian Wylie said: "We get such excellent images from these cameras that there is often, and never more so than in this case, no doubt who the criminal is and what they are doing.

"When faced with such evidence, there is no other way to go than 'guilty'. The photographs don't just lead us to the person breaking into the car either.

"Further police work has also led us on many occasions to the handlers of the stolen property and people the car criminal is working with. We have also received information from members of the public through Crimestoppers where they have reported stolen property being sold on the streets, door-to-door or in local pubs."

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