SmartWater technology normally designed to catch burglars and thieves has been used to jail a domestic abuser for the first time.

SmartWater is a clear liquid solution that carries a unique forensic code - which is stronger and more accurate than DNA. The forensic composition of SmartWater means criminals can be directly linked to a crime, even long after it has occurred.

Officers have begun distributing SmartWater, which glows under ultraviolet light, to women in Yorkshire and Staffordshire, UK. Now a man from Wakefield, Yorkshire, has become the first person to be jailed after SmartWater evidence helped prove he had breached a court order.

The perpetrator visited the victim’s address while the subject of a non-molestation order. The victim was able to spray him with the SmartWater solution and the unique tag was found on his clothing on his arrest.

He was swiftly charged and convicted of breach of a non-molestation order and harassment and jailed for 24 weeks. A two-year restraining order was also put in place.

The head of West Yorkshire Police’s Safeguarding Central Governance Unit, Superintendent Lee Berry came up with the idea of equipping victims with the canisters as part of its drive to tackle violence against women and girls.

“The victim in this case was visited by officers from Wakefield Adult Safeguarding Unit and she told them how having the canister made her feel very protected and much more safe and how she would recommend it to other victims."

The forensic liquid stays on the skin for up to six weeks and then links the perpetrator to the specific batch of water that was sprayed.

Responding to a police survey, 76% of women who have been given a canister said they felt safer, and 62% said they saw a reduction in incidents such as their attacker breaching a restraining order. Some 93% of the 55 respondents also said they would recommend the spray to others.

This isn't the only use of smart water in tackling crime - for example Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has tested the use of smart water to tackle waste crime at a tyre site.

The Welsh regulator said the site in question has a permit for the treatment and storage of waste tyres, however the permitted quantity was exceeded by an estimated 2000 waste tyres. NRW's regulation team served a notice on the site to remove the waste tyres but there were concerns over whether they would disposed of legitimately.

To combat this, NRW marked the excess tyres using SmartWater which means that if they are found dumped elsewhere, it is easier to trace back to the site owner.

According to the SmartWater manufacturers, over 400 criminals have been caught and convicted so far in the UK using SmartWater technology.