Armed robber takes £2800 in raid on Lothian butchers

AN ARMED robber who held up a butcher's shop and stole £2800 in takings tore out a CCTV unit as he fled.

Police are hunting for the masked thief after he raided Aytoun's Butchers on Musselburgh High Street.

The man struck just as the shop was closing at 4.55pm last Saturday and cornered the butcher in a back office.

He then pressed an unknown weapon against the his victim's back and demanded cash.

Today the shop's owner revealed that the culprit pulled out the digital recorder and dropped it, before fleeing into the rear gardens at the back of the Newbigging properties.

Police officers were on the scene within minutes and flooded into the surrounding gardens but were unable to track down the thief.

Keith Stewart, who owns four butcher's shops in the Lothians, said that the incident had left his store manager shaken and several day's takings lost.

He said: "It was a classic smash and grab and the manager doesn't quite know what happened. He didn't see anything because this guy has held a weapon to his back. It could have been a machete, it could even have been a gun. We just don't know.

"The manager is obviously quite shaken by it.

"This guy ripped out the CCTV system and it was found on the ground nearby.

"There were a lot of police there very fast and I heard there was a chase through the gardens, but that's not been confirmed.

"It's absolutely shocking. We have had robberies before in our stores over the years, but nothing like an armed robbery."

Mr Stewart added that the suspect must have been desperate to carry out an armed robbery at a butcher's shop.

He said: "It's very surprising because of all the places to rob, why would you rob a butcher's shop? It's a very desperate act."

"There are knives and cleavers in there and butchers tend to know how to handle these kinds of things, so the guy was taking a risk threatening someone with a weapon.

"We're hoping that the police nail this character because you can't have people like this running around."

Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen the suspect near to Aytoun's Butchers on Saturday around 5pm to come forward.

The suspect is white, 5ft 9in tall, between 20 and 25 years old, of slim build and with short dark shaved hair.

He was wearing a grey hooded top and grey jogging bottoms, with black gloves and a white scarf pulled up to cover his face.

A police spokesman said: "We are appealing for anyone who was in the area at the time, and may have seen what happened, to contact us.

"Additionally, we would ask anyone who recognises the description of the suspect to get in touch."