Manage to catch last of criminals in wood (5)
I believe the answer is:
copse
'wood' is the definition.
(a copse is a small wood)
'manage to catch last of criminals' is the wordplay.
'manage' becomes 'cope' (manage can mean to cope or do well).
'to catch' is an insertion indicator.
'last of' suggests the final letters.
The last letter of 'criminals' is 's'.
'cope' enclosing 's' is 'COPSE'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for copse that I've seen before include "Cultivated woodland area" , "Wood - thicket" , "Small thicket" , "Dense growth of bushes or trees" , "Cluster of trees" .)