POLICE in Pembrokeshire are deploying forensic DNA spray as part of a targeted operation to tackle dangerous and antisocial riding on illegal e-bikes and e-scooters.

Dyfed-Powys Police have begun a series of enforcement operations using SelectaDNA – a forensic spray containing a unique code that can be traced to a specific location, date and time.

Traditionally used to mark property at risk of theft, the spray is now being used to identify individuals and vehicles involved in illegal riding, particularly where offenders attempt to conceal their identities.

The operations follow a sharp rise in complaints, particularly across south Pembrokeshire. Police received 60 reports over a six-month period, with 92 per cent of callers raising concerns about antisocial or dangerous riding. Many reports involved riders wearing face coverings.

Across the Dyfed-Powys force area, officers have seized 19 e-bikes and 28 e-scooters during recent enforcement activity.

The crackdown involves neighbourhood policing and prevention teams, response officers, the force intelligence bureau, the roads policing unit and drone operators, with patrols focused on areas of highest community concern.

Inspector Celt Thomas said officers had received specialist training before the operation began.

“Ahead of the operation, officers were trained in the use of SelectaDNA, which is a spray containing a quantity of unique DNA,” he said.

“It can be used to tag people, e-bikes, scooters or motorbikes, and can pinpoint offenders to a specific location, date and time.

“If offenders are later identified or brought into custody following an incident, their bikes, clothing or even they themselves can be forensically examined and evidentially linked to an offence.”

During the first operation in Pembroke Dock, an illegal e-bike rider was stopped and arrested on suspicion of failing to stop for police, dangerous driving, possession of controlled drugs, drug driving and having no insurance.

The e-bike, which officers said had been heavily modified and was worth between £4,000 and £6,000, was seized and is set to be destroyed.

PC Stuart Gray warned parents to think carefully before buying e-scooters for children this Christmas.

“E-scooters and bikes pose serious safety risks for children, including accidents and injuries,” he said.

“We urge parents to prioritise their child’s wellbeing and consider safer, more appropriate alternatives.”

Inspector Thomas said police would continue to take firm action.

“These riders are causing a huge amount of concern in the area due to their dangerous behaviour and intimidating appearance, and we are committed to resolving the issue,” he said.

“We will continue to target these groups over the coming months and are confident these operations will have positive results.

“We urge members of the community who have information about anyone riding illegally or antisocially to contact us.”

Anyone with information can contact Dyfed-Powys Police online, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 101.

WALES’ unwanted title as the nation with the highest “in-country” imprisonment rate in western Europe is set to be solidified due to the expansion of HMP Parc.

The warning came as the expansion, which was approved despite the prison reaching a record 17 deaths in 2024, is projected to push the rate to 178 per 100,000 population.

Analysis by Wales Governance Centre warned the projected rate will surpass the average for the whole of Europe (177 per 100,000) and that of anywhere else in western Europe.

The “in-country” rate refers to people held in Welsh prisons, including those from England, with 167 per 100,000 currently compared with 139 per 100,000 across the border.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) decision to add 345 places at HMP Parc will increase the prison place surplus in Wales from 393 to an estimated 738 places, fuelling concerns about the country being used to “absorb prisoner overflows from England”.

Appearing before the Senedd’s equality committee on Monday December 15, Rob Jones, a lecturer at Cardiff University, questioned the logic of expanding the Bridgend prison.

He said: “I don’t quite understand why that decision was taken to expand that prison at that particular time – one, given the safety problems that have been widely reported on and, secondly, Wales already has the highest ‘in-country’ imprisonment rate in western Europe.”

Pressed about the reasons for the “enormously high” rate, Dr Jones pointed to the impact of poverty in Wales. He raised the example of Finland which has a rate of 51 per 100,000.

The “ill-judged” plans to extend HMP Parc were approved by Bridgend Council in November and Dr Jones urged Welsh ministers to ask the UK Government to think again.

He said: “I don’t see any reason why Parc should be expanded when there are still no answers about Wales’ imprisonment rate… I think there needs to be a very serious conversation about tackling overimprisonment in Wales, not just overcrowding.”

Since HMP Berwyn in Wrexham opened in 2017, the average number of prisoners held in Wales has increased by 34%, according to a Wales Governance Centre briefing.

The report found the number of prisoners held in England would need to increase by more than 21,000 to equal the rate in Wales following the proposed expansion.

Dr Jones told the committee: “If the Welsh Government is serious about its… commitment to reduce the number of people in prison in Wales – now is the time to show it.”

His latest factfile on imprisonment showed a record number of deaths (21) across the Welsh prison estate in 2024. Of the 17 at HMP Parc, eight were attributed to natural causes.

He said: “I think the natural cause deaths are the elephant in the room actually when we think about deaths in prison. [That’s] not to say those others that we saw, particularly at Parc last year with regards to substances, are not, of course, to be taken seriously.”

Dr Jones expressed concerns about the standards of health care in prisons, which is devolved to Wales, with the average life expectancy of prisoners “significantly lower”.

Asked about housing, Dr Jones said the “jagged edge” of Wales’ justice system is “alive and well” when it comes to homelessness and prisoner release. He warned councils, housing services and probation cannot deal with the “churn” created by short-term sentences.

Labour’s Mick Antoniw asked about people from black or minority ethnic backgrounds being disadvantaged “in just about every respect of the criminal justice system”.

Dr Jones replied: “I don’t think I’ve seen any real improvement nor change,” warning of “zero” investment in research on criminal justice in Wales.

He pointed to evidence of two-tier sentencing and cautioned Wales is “completely lost” in the context of an England-and-Wales justice system. He raised the danger of recommendations – such as those from the Lammy review and Thomas commission – sitting on a shelf.

Jane Dodds, the Liberal Democrats’ leader in Wales, asked about a high and growing proportion of Welsh prisoners held on remand before their trial or sentencing.

Dr Jones warned of a lack of understanding to explain a 10% increase in prisoners on remand in 2024 (804) after reaching record levels in 2023 (730).

He raised the example of Welsh ministers’ women’s justice blueprint, with half of magistrates saying they had never heard of the plan which promotes alternatives to remand.

On a lack of “vital” information about parental imprisonment, the lecturer said he was led on a “merry dance” before his FoI for Welsh data was rejected on cost grounds.

Asked about short-term sentences for women, Dr Jones said: “There never really seems to be any determined effort to get to the bottom of problems.”

Alleged incident said to have taken place on Bridge Street

AN ABERYSTWYTH man has denied a charge of criminal damage relating to an alleged incident in Cardigan.

Ricky Myers, aged 27, of Jasper House, Aberystwyth, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Monday (Dec 15).

The court heard that Myers is accused of criminal damage to property valued under £5,000, contrary to the Criminal Damage Act 1971.

The charge relates to an incident on Saturday (Aug 24, 2024) at Manchester House on Bridge Street, Cardigan, where it is alleged that a window at the Cardigan Gallery was damaged. The property is said to belong to Peter Austin.

Myers pleaded not guilty to the allegation.

Magistrates adjourned the case for further case management, and Myers was remanded on conditional bail, with a condition that he live and sleep each night at his home address.

He is due to return to court at Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (Dec 17) at 2:00pm.