Tag: robbery

Police seek masked knifeman following local robbery

Police

Police are looking for help to trace a masked thief who made a knifepoint robbery at a shop in Pilton last night (Sunday). The incident happened at about 20:40 at the Day Today shop in Boswall Parkway.

A 23-year-old man was working behind the counter when the thief demanded money, jumped over the counter and stole a plastic box containing a three-figure sum of cash and international telephone cards worth £200.

The thief is white 20 to 30-years-old, between 5ft 2ins and 5ft 5ins tall and of stocky build. He was wearing a black hooded top with the hood up, light-coloured trousers, black Converse-style trainers with a black balaclava covering his face.

Constable Alistair McLeod, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: “This was a frightening experience for everyone within the store and we are conducting local enquiries to identify the suspect. A male matching his description was then seen within a garden in Pilton Avenue at about 21:00 before making off.

“We are now asking anyone who remembers seeing anything suspicious in either Boswall Parkway or Pilton Avenue on Sunday evening to contact police immediately. Similarly, anyone with any other information that can assist with our investigation is also urged to come forward.”

Last night’s incident follows another knifepoint robbery at St Mark’s Park last Friday.

Help catch these Millennium Centre thieves

Two thieves stealing cash and food from Muirhouse Millennium Centre have been captured on CCTV, and the footage has been posted on YouTube in the hope that the heartless robbers can be caught.

The incident happened last Wednesday afternoon, when the Centre – which is already suffering financially after a series of funding cuts – was visited by the two men. One of the men distracted a wheelchair-bound volunteer at the front desk, while the other sneaked into the kitchen and stole £155 from the locked till and a single packet of bacon from the freezer – despite there being another nine packs inside!

Millennium Centre staff at the centre have now posted CCTV footage capturing the theft on YouTube in a bid to shame the pair. The video appears with the message: “This is not a rich centre. The money that was taken goes towards running the clubs and paying the bills so the thieving scumbags should be ashamed of themselves – stealing from children and old folk. If you know him let the police know!”

Centre manager Peter Airlie said: “The older man started to talk to the volunteer at the front desk. He said one of them was just out of jail and they had thought the community centre was the housing association, as he was trying to find ­somewhere. The other one went through to the cafe area and took money from the till and bacon from the freezer. We really just want to see them named and shamed – they’re the lowest of the low.”

The men were then seen getting on a bus at Pennywell Road in the direction of Ferry Road.

One of the suspects is described as a white male in his mid-twenties, 6ft 2, of heavy build with short brown hair, clean-shaven and wearing black, thick rimmed glasses. He was wearing a light blue and white Adidas jacket with blue stripes down the arm and dark jogging bottoms.

The other man is aged between 40 and 50, around 5ft 4, with a local accent, of slim build, had a shaved head with a receding hairline and a “prominent chin, forehead and a weathered face”.

To see the footage visit:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmwlPvT3i8 or go to YouTube and type in Millennium Centre robbery.