Dave Thomas from South Wales Police mentioned that using a fingerprint of a photograph as evidence is a "breakthrough". He said that they will now analyze the images they get from smartphones more carefully.
In this case, the police investigated the mobile phones found in the homes they raided in the town of Bridgend after getting information about possible drug-related activities in the venue.
In the phone, there is WhatsApp message for months. And it turns out, the messages are important evidence.
"The phone has some text like, 'What do you want to buy?'" Thomas told the BBC. "Then there was a photo from a hand holding a pill that seemed to be sent to a prospective buyer with the message, 'It is my merchandise, I am selling this.'"
The photograph shows the middle and bottom of the perpetrator's finger, though not the top of the fingerprint recorded in the UK national database. In this case, the police could not match the fingerprint they found in the database.
However, the image of the finger provides enough information to catch the suspect. This investigation led police to arrest 10 other suspects.
