A VIOLENT thug who broke a man's jaw in a street attack is today being traced by police using innovative technology.
A VIOLENT thug who broke a man's jaw in a street attack is today being traced by police using innovative technology.
For the first time, the force is employing morphing techniques to combine two witnesses' e-fit depictions in the hope the composite image will be recognised by a friend or relative of the attacker.
Dc Clifford Clark, of Ipswich police, said he believed it could be the first time the technique has been used anywhere in the country and he hoped it would bring the attacker to justice.
He said the image depicted a likeness of a man police want to trace in connection with an assault in Carr Street, in Ipswich town centre, between 1am and 3am on Sunday, September 10.
Two witnesses watched as the attacker, and an accomplice, spat at and then punched their victim, causing his jaw to be broken in two places.
Both witnesses worked with officers to compose e-fits of one of the men and these have now been combined.
Dc Clarke said: “Both offenders were mixed race and because in the e-fit system we have either a white male database or a black Caribbean database we decided, instead of releasing two different e-fits, we would morph them.
“One witness chose to work with the Caucasian database and one with the black database.
“They have a very similar shaped face, similar eyes and mouths but because of the differences in the databases they came out very different.”
Dc Clark said software was used to highlight pointers on the face which instruct the computer where to morph the images. The result was an e-fit depiction of a mixed race male.
The offender is described as between 16 to 18, about 6ft and slim.
He was wearing a baggy blue Nike t-shirt and baggy trousers or jogging bottoms.
His accomplice was also of mixed race and aged 16 to 18. He was about 5ft 8ins to 5ft 9ins and of slightly bigger build than the first man.
He was wearing a peaked black cap and a turquoise hoody with black arms, worn with the hood down.
Anyone with information is asked to call Dc Clark at Ipswich CID on 01473 383092.
Do you think e-fitting is an effective way to catch criminals? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail: eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
Weblink:
www.suffolk.police.uk
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