Find the maniac who killed little Jack

Jack Anderson was just 200 yards from his front door on Saughton Road North when he was knocked down on a pedestrian crossing by a car - believed to have been stolen - fleeing the scene of a crime. The impact threw him yards across the road.

Police had been chasing three men in a powerful green Peugeot 406 GTX V6 across the city after an earlier incident in Corstorphine.

However, police sources said this morning they were not in direct pursuit at the time of the accident, having lost the car shortly before. The vehicle was abandoned soon afterwards at Saughton Prison.

Police today confirmed that the car ran a red light on the pedestrian crossing.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the car had been driving at up to 80mph before the accident.

Lollipop lady Joy Greenhill, who was working near the scene, said she saw four police cars and a police motorcycle chasing the Peugeot minutes before the crash.

Eye-witness - 11-year-old Ntando Zingtw, of Stenhouse Drive - described seeing a police car close behind the Peugeot.

But another witness said the nearest police car was around half a mile away when Jack, who attended Carrick Knowe Primary School, was knocked down at around 3.25pm.

An incident room has been set up at Gayfield Square Police Station and descriptions of the three men have been issued.

An ambulance was on the scene almost immediately to take Jack to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, but he died soon after.

Friends and neighbours today paid tribute to Jack, who lived on Saughton Road North. His parents, Michael and Yvonne, said he was a huge Star Wars fan, and "a happy, nice wee laddie".

The grief-stricken family were today being interviewed by specially-trained officers from the Lothian and Borders Police family liaison unit.

Chief Inspector Euan Morrison, who is leading the investigation, told the Evening News: "The vehicle and its occupants were spotted acting suspiciously by local uniformed officers in the Corstorphine area shortly before the young boy was struck.

"The officers decided to stop the vehicle. It made off and was lost to sight.

"We don't know how close the police car was to the vehicle when the boy was struck. We are still trying to ascertain how many police vehicles were involved."

Forensic experts were today examining the Peugeot in a bid to extract fingerprints or DNA. Chief Insp Morrison

added: "Any CCTV footage from Saughton Prison will be part of our investigation. The descriptions we have of the suspects came from a significant number of witnesses."

He said police were still trying to determine whether the car was stolen, and were tracing who it belonged to through the DVLA.

After abandoning the car, the three suspects were last seen near the BP filling station on Stenhouse Mill Crescent before they split up and went on foot.

Chief Insp Morrison said: "This is a major inquiry with 50 police staff members from across the force involved. We would appeal to anyone who saw the car in the area beforehand, witnessed the crash or saw the vehicle afterwards to contact police."

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman said paramedics had been on the scene of the accident within a minute.

She added: "It was a hit-and-run incident, the driver didn't stop. The boy suffered multiple injuries and was taken to the Sick Kids hospital.

"The driver was going at 80mph."

There was anger among some parents who claimed the police were chasing the Peugeot at high speeds through streets busy while primary school children were walking home.

They said a lollipop lady had to grab hold of children using a crossing outside Corstorphine Primary School to pull them out of the way of the speeding cars.

One mother, whose son was in the same primary five class as Jack Anderson, said she had been told the police had chased the car through three crossings, two of them with lollipop ladies.

"At the first crossing, right outside Corstorphine Primary School, the lollipop lady needed to drag children off the crossing.

"The police were chasing them hell for leather through that crossing, which is in a 20mph zone.

"The same thing happened coming into Carrick Knowe, but luckily there were no kids on the road at that time.

"They must have chased that car for over a mile. The schools were coming out and the place was full of kids.

"What were they doing chasing them through a built-up area like that? We all want answers."

Joy Greenhill, 59, from Saughton Road North, was working yesterday as a lollipop lady on the corner of Tyler's Acre Avenue, five minutes up the road from where the accident happened.

She said she saw a green car being pursued by four police cars and a police motorcycle.

She said: "I saw a speeding green car come flying down the road, chased by traffic police then another two cars, then a police motorcycle, then a police panda car. I was standing there with a load of kids on the pavement. Lucky I'm a blether or we would have all been killed. Nobody would have had any chance against that speed."

Contrary to earlier reports she said she was not with the boy when the accident happened nor did she see it happen.

She said: "I wasn't with the boy. Another boy cycled up and told me.

"I was told it was a Carrick Knowe kid. I probably know the boy. I cried when I heard. My own house is opposite where it happened and I went home about 3.45pm and still had my uniform on, so people must have seen me at the scene."

A shopkeeper who works opposite the scene of the accident described hearing a "bang".

Philip Garner, 57, manager of RS McColl at Carrick Knowe said: "I was working and heard a loud noise outside like a bang.

"I went to the window and saw a crowd of people bunched together. I went back to the counter as I didn't think it was too serious and had a big queue.

"Later I looked out and saw someone lift a shoe and take it over to the pavement. It's a fast road and could do with some measures to make people slow down. It couldn't have been a worse time with primary school children coming out."

He added: "The police weren't out there when I first looked - they followed a couple of minutes later. It was only when all the police arrived that I realised how serious the accident was."

Schoolboy Ntando Zingtw, 11, said: "I was standing outside the shop and this green car came crashing towards us. A police car was behind it.

"The boy was crossing the road and it went bang, straight into him."

However, another witness said the police car was some distance away. "The Peugeot had got away from the police car and it must have been at least half a mile away when the boy was knocked down."

Khalid Mahmood, 44, owner of Carrick Knowe Licensed Grocer, said he had run out on to the street after hearing the accident.

He said: "I heard a very strong bang and ran out with a customer. I saw a boy lying down on the road and he looked in a very bad way.

"People checked his breathing, but couldn't find any. One lady phoned the ambulance. and another tried to resuscitate him.

"The ambulance got here very quickly. It was terrible."

Mr Mahmood added that he knew the boy well, saying: "He came in at least twice a day to buy sweets and things.

"When I first looked out the police hadn't arrived. One police car got there a couple of minutes later then a few more police cars followed a few minutes after that. It didn't seem like there was a car directly following them because it was a two or three minute delay before the police car got there."

Mary Forrest, 60, a housewife from Saughton Road North, said: "I spoke to a woman who saw it. She told me she was coming from the Spar and a dark green car passed her driving very fast. Next thing she saw the wee boy being tossed up into the air. She was in tears telling me. I was shocked."

DO YOU RECOGNISE THESE MEN?

THE first suspect is described as white, aged 20-25, skinny build, 5ft 6in to 5ft 8in, short mousy brown and dirty blonde hair, which was brushed forward at the front and down at the sides. He has slightly prominent ears, a pale complexion, slightly pointed nose, and was clean shaven.

He was wearing a beige long-sleeved open-necked collar shirt which was not tucked into the trousers and light beige casual trousers.

The second suspect is aged 25-30, medium build, 6ft, full face but not fat, pale complexion, with short black brushed hair, short at the side and longer at the top, possibly waxed or gelled.

He was wearing a black three-quarter length wool-style coat, black trousers and possibly black shoes.

The third suspect is 20-25, skinny build, 5ft 6in to 5ft 8in, wearing a blue stone-washed jacket and a sky blue top.