By Cara Sulieman
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after separate bag snatch attacks in Edinburgh.
Two separate thefts have happened in the Muirhouse area of Edinburgh in the past few days, leaving the victims with injuries.
The first happened on Monday night when a woman was robbed after leaving a chip shop on Pennywell Road.
At around 11.20pm she noticed a group of youths had gathered outside the chippie and one of them came up to her as she left.
Struggle
He grabbed the shopping bag she was carrying and started a struggle when the determined woman tried to stop him.
But the man managed to wrestle it from her grasp and ran off, leaving the victim with a sore hand.
Luckily she didn’t need treatment for the injury.
The suspect was described as a 16-17 year old boy, 5 ft 7ins tall and was wearing a grey hooded top and tracksuit bottoms at the time of the attack.
A second incident happened on the same road on Wednesday night.
A woman was walking along a lane between Muirhouse Avenue North and Pennywell Road when two men started following her.
They then grabbed her handbag and struggled with her before managing to grab it and run off towards Muirhouse Avenue North just after midnight.
Again, the woman was hurt but luckily they were only minor injuries.
One of the men was described as being a white male in his 20s who was 5ft 6ins tall and skinny with acne on his face.
He was wearing a dark beanie hat, long dark coat and blue jeans at the time of the attack.
The other man was also white, 5ft 4ins tall and skinny and was wearing a dark hoodie.
Lothian and Borders Police are hoping that witnesses can come forward and help them find out who was responsible for the attacks.
A police spokesman said: “At this time we do not believe either theft to be linked, but we are keen to speak to anyone who may be able to assist with our enquiries.
“If you were in the Pennywell Road area around 11.20pm on Monday night or around 12.10am this morning and saw anything suspicious we would ask that you contact police immediately.”
Anyone with any information should contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3131, or Crimestopper.
