Edinburgh crime news: Here is a roundup of the crime and court stories from the Capital and the Lothians this week

Here is a round up of the crime and court stories from the Capital and the Lothians throughout the week.

Monday

A former far-right candidate who stood in two elections violently raped a woman and carved a string of slurs and obscenities into her body.

Extremist Michael Coyle also attempted to rape his victim’s daughter, subjecting her to a harrowing ordeal.

A 50-year-old man has been arrested after police received reports of a potential firearm in Ross’s Close, just off Haddington High Street.

Police Scotland were called at around 1.35 pm on Sunday and specialist officers were sent to attend the incident.

Police have arrested a man in connection with two assaults, including that of a 71-year-old.

Officers arrested the 26-year-old and charged him in relation to two assaults in West Lothian, as well as robbery and vandalism.

Edinburgh crime news: Here is a roundup of the crime and court stories from the Capital and the Lothians this week

Tuesday

The British Transport Police are appealing for witnesses after an incident on a train between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

A woman who had been travelling on a train between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street reported the incident after she saw a man carrying out a solo sex act while watching a video on his phone.

A man who was compared to “a Smurf” by a sheriff when he turned up to court in full William Wallace face paint has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.

Richard McFarlane, 55, was found guilty following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month of sending a hate-filled homophobic letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

A young girl was taken to hospital, after she was struck by a vehicle on a road in Bathgate on Monday.

Police were called to the collision on Whitburn Road in Bathgate at around 4.15pm on Monday, July 25.

Police in Edinburgh arrested a 20-year-old man for possessing a weapon, along with several drugs and traffic offences.

He has been charged with several road traffic offences, drugs offences and possession of an offensive weapon.

Police have issued crime prevention advice to local car owners, after several car windows were smashed in Edinburgh.

A serial rapist rapist whose "disturbing" sex crime career spanned two decades has been jailed for 12 years.

Wednesday

A driver with defective vision who rolled their car on the A1 has handed their licence over to traffic police in Edinburgh.

The body of a dog has been found in a blue canvas bag adjacent to Niddrie Burn opposite the Jack Kane Centre in Edinburgh.

John Toule, a Scottish SPCA senior inspector, said, “It is suspected that the dog is a corgi cross or a similar breed. We believe the dog to be male. He was light brown with patches of dark brown fur around his face.

“Given the condition of the body, we think the dog may have been there for a few days.

Police in Edinburgh have arrested a man, 19, after catching him riding an off-road motorbike illegally.

Officers saw the man riding an off-road motorbike on London Road without a helmet on Tuesday, July 26.

He was then arrested and charged for a number of road traffic offences.

A wealthy fund manager and novelist who attacked his wife during a campaign of domestic abuse has been spared a jail sentence.

A Glock gun has been handed into police, after locals came across the pistol in the Water of Leith.

Volunteers for the Water of Leith Conservation Trust were wading in the water at Warriston last week, looking for invasive species, when they discovered the Glock semi-automatic pistol.

A Sinn Fein councillor who sexually assaulted a bar worker while out on a stag night in Edinburgh city centre has been booted out of the party.

Cathal McLaughlin, 60, grabbed hold of the waitress and touched her ”hinder parts” as she served him and his friends drinks at the city’s Three Sisters pub last year.

Edinburgh-born TV and radio presenter Nicky Campbell has claimed that he was the victim of abuse at a private school in the Capital during the 1970s.

The 61-year-old broadcaster said witnessing incidents of both sexual and physical abuse at the Edinburgh Academy had had a “profound effect on my life”.

Thursday

A driver who took his phone out to record the scene of a four car crash in West Lothian was caught by police.

Officers from Dalkeith attended a four car collision on the M8 near Bathgate between Junction 4 and Junction 3A, on Wednesday morning.

While they were dealing with the incident a driver was observed filming the crash with his phone.

Police in West Lothian stopped a driver who tested over the drinking limit and had no licence, insurance or MOT.

Officers in an unmarked car in Edinburgh stopped a 41 year old man who had been spotted driving dangerously on Broomhouse Road on Wednesday.

He was subsequently charged by the police with dangerous driving as well as being in possession of offensive weapons.

Armed police have descended on an Edinburgh street after a hit-and-run crash left a 24-year-old man with serious injuries.

Friday

Rebekah Vardy has lost the “Wagatha Christie” libel battle against Coleen Rooney over a viral social media post, after a High Court judge found it was “substantially true”.

In the October 2019 post, Mrs Rooney, 36, said she had carried out a months-long “sting operation” and accused Mrs Vardy, 40, of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press.

Youths with balaclavas reportedly steal a bike in the middle of the night from Marchmont street

A local spotted a group of youths making off with the bike in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Hit and run on Ferry Road Drive being treated as deliberate as police in the Capital investigate attempted murder

Officers believe this was a targeted attack and are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident, or who has dashcam footage of what happened, to contact police.

Superintendent Mark Rennie said: “Violence of this nature won’t be tolerated in any part of the city."