Man tracked down by facial recognition arrested for vehicle theft in Macclesfield

A man has been arrested after he was tracked down by facial recognition technology for stealing a quad bike in Macclesfield.

At around 7.50pm on Monday 20 May, police were called to reports of a vehicle theft at an address on Barlow Hill, Wincle.

Following enquiries, officers from Cheshire’s Rural Crime Team checked CCTV which showed a man entering the address and stealing the quad bike.

Officers then took the image of the man from the CCTV and submitted it through Retrospective Facial Recognition software.

The search returned a match within just two hours and officers set about making enquiries into the suspect’s whereabouts.

As a result, the suspect, an 18-year-old man from Liverpool, was arrested on Saturday 25 May on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle.

He has since been bailed while officers continue with their enquiries.

Chief Inspector Zoe Bowden said: “This is an excellent result for facial recognition which allowed our officers to identify a suspect quickly and effectively, clearly demonstrating how useful the software can be to policing.

“We’ll continue to embrace Retrospective Facial Recognition technology, and utilise all resources available to us to keep the people of Cheshire safe.”

Enquiries in relation to this incident are still ongoing and as part of their investigation, officers would like to appeal for any witnesses to come forward.

To report any information, you can contact Cheshire Police via the website or call 101, quoting 24000457389.

Information can also be reported anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.