'Forensic grease' helps catch stalker visiting victim's house in first for Kent Police

'Forensic grease' has been used for the first time by police in Kent to order to catch a stalker who kept visiting his victim's home.

The grease was applied to the windows of the stalking victim's home, after the man they had a restraining order against had been released from prison.

The substance is usually used to detect thieves and shows up under ultra-violet light which allows police to see who has come into contact with an object.

However in a first for Kent Police, they trialled it as part of a test pilot to help victims of domestic abuse and stalking.

On 10 April, officers were called to a report that a man had been seen near the victim's property in Ashford.

The man fled the scene but on the 18 April, officers found the man at the victim's address and he was arrested.

Tests on a body warmer he was wearing showed traces of the forensic grease which had been applied to the windows.

Marley Edmed, 25, formerly of Laurens Van Der Post Way, Ashford, was charged with two counts of breaching a restraining order and jailed for 46 weeks after admitting both offences at Folkestone Magistrates' Court on 19 April.

Detective Inspector Zoe Wilczek, of the East Kent Proactive Domestic Abuse Team, said: "Our number one priority is protecting victims of stalking, harassment and domestic violence and we will use any means open to us to achieve this.

"I believe this case is the first in the county in which this forensic grease has been used in a domestic abuse investigation, strengthening the case which secured a conviction at court, and I am pleased it has helped us swiftly put this repeat offender behind bars.

"We now know this forensic marking method of protection is effective and we will continue to utilise it in domestic abuse and stalking safeguarding methods."

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