Hope CCTV picture will help to solve mugging in underpass

DETECTIVES investigating the brutal mugging of an elderly woman in a city underpass today took the unusual step of releasing a CCTV image of a man they are hunting over the attack.

The 77-year-old victim suffered a broken pelvis and elbow after being robbed in Calder Road, Sighthill, earlier this month.

Police negotiated with the Crown Office for permission to release the image of the man captured entering the underpass moments before.

They would only say they are seeking to trace him in "connection with their inquiries".

The man, in his late teens or early 20s, is seen strolling into the underpass, which has become a notorious mugging hotspot, at 3.15pm on Saturday, June 7. Shortly after the elderly victim was knocked down as she had her handbag stolen and the attacker fled down Sighthill Wynd.

Temporary Detective Inspector Alistair Hutchens, from CID at Corstorphine police station, is leading the inquiry. He said: "It would be very likely that someone who knows this person could identify him.

"The victim suffered terrible injuries. This happened in broad daylight at 3.15pm in the afternoon and, if this crime could be worse, the lady who was attacked was elderly and vulnerable."

The release of CCTV images during inquiries is commonplace in England in connection with serious incidents but is far more unusual north of the Border. The inquiry team circulated the images around officers in the city but they were unable to identify him. Temp DI Hutchens said: "I would say to anyone who knows this man to come forward to police."

The incident was the sixth mugging in one of the four Calder Road underpasses in four months.

In the moments after the attack, a woman heard the elderly woman's screams and called an ambulance. The victim was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

A man who walked through the underpass after the incident followed in the direction of the suspect, found him discarding items from the bag in Sighthill Wynd with another two men. Most of the contents of the bag were recovered, minus cash.

In April, a gang of muggers held a knife to the throat of a 28-year-old pregnant mother in front of her two young children in a robbery at the underpass between Calder Road and Longstone Road.

The underpasses under Calder Road include those to Sighthill Shopping Centre, Broomhouse Road and Wester Hailes Road, leading to Stevenson College.

Anyone with information should contact police on 0131-311 3131 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.