Edinburgh crime: 11-year-old Edinburgh boy targeted by thief on way to school through Victoria Park

The boy’s phone was grabbed as he entered the park.

An 11-year-old Edinburgh boy has been ‘left shaken’ after he was targeted by a thief while walking to school.

The youngster was walking through Victoria Park on Friday, December 8 at around 8.35am when he was approached by a man who grabbed his mobile phone and fled. Parents in the area are now urging their children to be vigilant following the theft in the park off Newhaven Road, which is a busy school route for nearby Trinity Primary and Holy Cross RC schools. One concerned mum whose son attends the same class as the boy said he’d been left ‘shaken’.

She took to local community group Nextdoor to appeal for witnesses: “Posting on behalf of someone whose 11-year-old boy had his phone snatched out of his hand at around 8.35am in Victoria Park on his way to school on Friday morning. The boy had just got off the bus and walked through the gate into Victoria Park. He was instantly approached by a tall male wearing a dark coat and black beanie who grabbed his phone out of his hand. Needless to say the boy was very shaken by this experience.

A schoolboy was targeted while walking through Edinburgh's Victoria Park

"The incident has been reported to the police. Given the time and location this seems to be deliberate, rather than chance theft. The park is very busy with kids and teenagers using phones on their way to school at this time of day. If anyone saw anything please get in touch. Either way, tell your kids and teenagers to be vigilant and not have their phones on display.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 9.15am on Friday, December 8, we received a report of a mobile phone being stolen from a boy in the Newhaven Road area of Edinburgh. Enquiries are ongoing."