A man wanted by eight police forces was arrested after an officer spotted a distinctive tattoo on his wrist.

A Pembrokeshire police officer identified and arrested the man suspected to be part of a criminal group.

The man was of interest to eight other forces, having travelled through after committing offences, and was pulled over in Pembroke Dock.

Police across the country had been asked to look out for the car, which was believed to have a member of a group with an extensive offending history inside.

The man was suspected of having carried out recent thefts.

When Dyfed-Powys Police officer PC Rob Garland saw the car leaving Pembroke Dock on the A477 on Tuesday, March 24, he pulled it over and detained the driver and passenger in handcuffs.

The passenger made attempts to conceal his identity, but PC Garland quickly spotted a tattoo which confirmed he was the person of interest.

PC Garland said: “I could see a tattoo on his wrist, which was of his son’s name.

“He was refusing to tell me who he was, but I explained that I could find out who he was from tattoos and by using something called Live Scan. He soon realised he had to confirm his identity.”

Checks revealed he had 70 previous convictions, and a history of being armed with knives and firearms.

He was arrested and taken to a meeting point to be collected by colleagues from another force, while the driver was released.

Pembrokeshire Superintendent Ross Evans said: “This was an excellent piece of proactive work by our teams in the force control room and out on division, resulting in the arrest of a man wanted by not just one force, but eight.

“Thanks to the information supplied by our colleagues at another force, our officers were able to correctly identify the man as being the wanted suspect, and quickly made arrangements which will allow their investigation to continue expeditiously.

“Even as we face challenges in the current climate, we continue to deny criminals the use of the roads and make Dyfed-Powys a hostile place for them travel to.”