Edinburgh crime: Thieves make off with £4,000 electric bike which helps Edinburgh mum with back pain

Edinburgh woman saved for more than a year to buy bike which eases her pain

Thieves have stolen a £4,000 electric bike from an Edinburgh single mother who cannot use a normal bike because of chronic back pain.

The 48-year-old, who has two children, said she had saved up for more than a year to buy the distinctive copper-orange coloured Haibike with full suspension.

She said: "In lockdown I got terrible back pain and discovered my back is really, really damaged. I couldn't really walk for half a year and I have chronic pain - sometimes I can't walk and I have numbness in my leg.

The distinctive Haibike Allmtn CF6 which has been modified with new brakes and different handlebars - the owner is offering a reward for its safe return.

"I've always been a very keen cyclist but a normal bike is out of the question now because it's just too hard on my back. So I saved up for this bike. It's electric, it's got full suspension. If I go on it, it helps me to ease the pain. I can't do all that much now, but this is something I love to do and I can still enjoy."

She is offering a reward for the safe return of the bike - a 2022 Haibike Allmtn CF6 - which says will be of no use to the thieves because she had removed the battery. And she has posted on Facebook and Gumtree to urge people not to buy the bike because it is stolen. The bike has been modified with new brakes and different pedals.

The woman, from Carrick Knowe, said the bike was taken from the shed in her garden on Monday July 3. "It was in the shed, it was alarmed, it was secured to the floor and had a chain on it. On Monday morning my son said 'Mum, why is the door to the shed wide open?'

"I ran to the shed, I saw the chain lying on the grass, I ran into the shed and saw it wasn't there and I just collapsed, I was hysterical."

She believes it was a targeted theft. "They must have cut it through with a grinder. But the bike doesn't have a battery - I took the battery out as another precaution - so it's no use to anyone. And a battery costs £800. I've been walking around every night searching in bushes in case it has been dumped.

"I am absolutely devastated. This is something I need, something that gives me a wee bit of quality of life. I saved up for a long time just to be able to afford it and it has gone."

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers are investigating following the theft of an electric bike which was reported to police on Monday July 3, 2023. Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information should call 101 and quote incident number 0651 of 3 July, or Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.”