Police appeal after assault and robbery in Edinburgh

Police are appealing for information to help find a man who they think is linked to a robbery and an attempted robbery in the south of Edinburgh early of this morning.

A 50 year old man was knocked unconscious with a blow to the back of the head at around 12:15am. When he awoke his wallet was stolen, which contained a three figure sum of cash.

Just 45 minutes earlier at 11:45pm, a 17 year old managed to escape a man on Gracemont Drive demanding he hand over some money.

The culprit has been described has having a mixed race appearance, in his early 20's, around 5ft 6inches tall with a very thin build and spoke a Scottish accent. He had curly stubble on his neck but not his face, he was wearing light grey jogging bottoms, a hooded top with the hood up and carrying a red metallic baseball bat that measured around 2ft in length and had dark/purplish marks near its handle.

Detective Constable Alastair Paisley said: "Given the close proximity of these incidents and the time of night they happened, we believe there is a strong possibility that these attacks were carried out by the same perpetrator.

"As part of our ongoing investigation officers are currently reviewing local CCTV and carrying out door-to-door enquires

“We also have a detailed description of the male which, of course, includes a very distinctive baseball bat and I would urge anyone who seen the suspect or has information relevant to our enquiries to please contact police on 101 or, alternatively information can be passed anonymously through the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."