Crack detectives in hunt for knife-wielding Niddrie robbers

Police are hoping to catch a pair of armed robbers

The knife-wielding thugs targeted a pregnant woman at her Niddrie home on Monday after a similar raid in Currie the day before.

Officers are working out of a command centre at Corstorphine police station, while residents have been left living in fear.

Councillor Callum Laidlaw said: “The housebreaking and robbery on Milligan Drive on Monday evening has shocked the community to the core, coming on the heels of a similar housebreaking on Dolphin Drive.

“While all burglaries are traumatic for the victims, the callous casual violence shown is particularly worrying and these criminals must be caught before someone is more severely injured.”

The raids were discussed at Craigmillar Community Council on Tuesday and in yesterday’s Neighbourhood Partnership community safety sub-group.

“I’m pleased to say the community is coming together to assist the police in their enquiries,” Cllr Laidlaw said after the meetings.

The two masked men forced their way into the house on Milligan Drive on Monday evening when the 29-year-old woman and her partner, a 39-year-old man, were at home.

A horrifying 45-minute ordeal followed as one suspect brandished knives at the couple, while the other ransacked the house.

The robbers fled with jewellery, electronic equipment and cash in a small silver hatchback believed to be a Vauxhall Corsa.

The first suspect is described as white, around 6ft tall with a pale complexion, light green eyes, and a diagonal cut down the right side of his nose.

He wore a black baseball cap, an aqua or emerald green coloured long-sleeved top, a black gilet with the hood up, dark tracksuit bottoms, black and grey trainers with no socks, black gloves and a black cloth tied over the lower half of his face.

The man had a scab on the inside right ankle bone and spoke with a local accent.

The second suspect is described as white, between 5ft 7’ and 5ft 10’ tall, and was of stocky build.

He wore a light cream or grey hooded top with the hood pulled up, dark khaki green tracksuit bottoms or cargo trousers, a dark grey baseball cap with a rounded peak, a dark garment over his face and gloves.

The man spoke with an English accent, possibly from the London area.

Detective Inspector Graham Grant said: “The victims were left extremely shaken by this terrifying ordeal, though thankfully neither were injured.

“We’ve made the link between an incident that happened in the early hours of Sunday morning at Dolphin Road and to this one in the southeast of the city.”

Anyone with information can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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