Edinburgh crime: Woman chased by man while out on run at Portobello Beach

A local woman was forced to sprint to her car, after a man started chasing her while she was on a run in Portobello.

Lauren Robertson, 21, from Edinburgh, was pursued by the man while out jogging on Portobello Beach on Sunday night.

She began her run at around 11.30pm, while there were still many people out on the beach.

After ten minutes, she stopped to sit on a bench and fix her shoe, when she noticed a man walking nearby. She said: “When he walked past me, I had a gut feeling. I felt that something wasn’t right.”

The man, who she described as tall and skinny, was wearing a dark grey granddad cap, which he had pulled down to cover his face.

Feeling panicked, she decided to run back to her car, instead of continuing on towards Joppa as planned.

She believed she was clear of the man when she reached Civerino’s, where she paused to Facetime a friend. However, while she was on the phone, she noticed the man walking towards her again. After he passed, he turned to wave at her, before walking round the corner onto Figgate Lane.

A woman was chased by a man while out on a run on Portobello Beach on Sunday night.

After this, Ms Robertson said she “didn’t feel safe”, and so she decided to run back to her car at a faster pace than usual.

As she ran past Figgate Lane, the same man lunged out at her and began to chase her.

He followed her, sprinting, all the way to Tumbles soft play on Westbank Street, occasionally shouting at her to “f*****g wait.”

At one point, she dropped her car keys and was forced to stop to pick them up. She took a moment to look back, and although he was at a distance, she could see him still running towards her.

Ms Robertson managed to make it back to her car on King’s Road safely. She quickly got in, locking the doors, before driving away from the area in tears.

She described the incident as “a horrible experience.”

“It was my first run in six months”, she said. “To go from having a small run on the beach, to having to sprint away from a man who was following me, it was horrible.

"It was like a horror story.”

Ms Robertson reported the incident to the police straight away, and gave a statement to officers, who are making enquiries.

The Edinburgh local also took to Facebook, to warn locals about the man, who she believes could target others.

She said: “I do hope he gets caught, as I don’t want anyone else to go through this.”

At the time of the incident, the man was wearing blue bootcut trousers, a leather jacket and a grey granddad cap pulled down his face.

Ms Robertson described him as being white, British, tall and skinny. While she only got a glimpse of his face, she estimated that he was in his late 40s to mid 50s.

Due to the man’s height, she believes he could have easily overpowered her. “I don’t think I would have stood a chance if he’d caught me”, she said.

Police Scotland say "enquiries are continuing" into the incident