Rape suspect arrested in Manchester after Live Facial Recognition alert

Saturday, 31 January 2026 11:26

By David Murphy

A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of rape and coercive control following a Live Facial Recognition deployment in Manchester city centre.

Greater Manchester Police have arrested a man wanted in connection with a rape in Salford and a domestic incident in Oldham after he was identified using Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology.

The suspect, aged 26, was detained in Piccadilly Gardens on Friday during one of GMP’s targeted LFR operations. He remains in custody for questioning over rape, harassment and coercive control allegations, as well as separate theft offences.

His arrest was one of four made during recent deployments of LFR vans in Manchester city centre on 28 and 30 January, where over 40,000 faces were scanned. Other arrests included:

A 55-year-old man for suspected theft
A 59-year-old man wanted on recall to prison and for breaching sex offender notification rules
A 48-year-old man for theft

The deployment was supported by Project Servator teams, who carry out high-visibility policing in public areas to disrupt criminal activity.

Inspector Jon Middleton said:

“This is exactly why we use LFR, to keep our communities safe, catch wanted suspects and ensure people are adhering to their court conditions. Officers can now intervene more quickly before suspects commit further offences.”

LFR technology, rolled out by GMP in October 2025, has led to 40 arrests in its first three months, including 10 directly from the presence of officers and staff. Of those arrested, more than 20 percent have been registered sex offenders.

GMP confirmed that 105 alerts have been generated so far across 40 deployments, with 30 individuals charged with offences.

One of the most serious recent arrests involved John Thompson, 41, from Manchester, who was stopped in Piccadilly Gardens during an LFR scan and later charged with 36 offences. He was found to have breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order 35 times and failed to comply with sex offender notification requirements. He remains in custody and is due to appear at Manchester Crown Court on 16 February.