Pickpocket gave me a big hug.. then stole my wallet

A DISABLED ex-oil worker has been mugged outside a Leith shopping centre by a "good samaritan" who stole his wallet as he helped him to his feet.

• Nicholas Rooney was mugged when he fell outside the Kirgate Centre

Nicholas Rooney, 60, was stunned to find his wallet missing after falling outside the Kirkgate Centre and being helped by a passer-by.

Mr Rooney, who lives in the New Town, was left severely disabled after a car crash in 1988, and walks with great difficulty. After the man helped him up, he wished him a "Happy Easter" and then ran off.

Moments later Mr Rooney realised he had been robbed, and after checking it had not fallen from his pocket he called after the man - and then, despite his difficulty walking, started following him.

"I can't walk very well after the accident, and I was quite out of breath and hobbling along after him shouting 'stop thief!', but I'd never have caught him," he said.

Fortunately he was aided by a manageress at the local British Heart Foundation shop, who not only helped a flustered Mr Rooney call the police but also followed the man to a nearby graveyard.

She confronted him, but he denied being the culprit and again ran off.

"I told the police that my wallet contained a small amount of money - probably about 15 - but the major headache would be replacing the debit card, credit card, travel pass, the most severe loss was a ticket to see Glasvegas that night," he said.

"When I had finished, I asked the police for some assistance to get home as there was no way I could attempt the mile or so on foot.

"They said that would be fine and I accompanied the officers outside and sat on the bench, waiting for my lift.

"While we were there a couple of guys came across and said 'We're really sorry about what that guy did'. The police officer asked them what they knew, and they said that they had witnessed the whole incident.

"They even gave the police a name and a likely address, and when I thanked them they said it was 'no problem' - they seemed genuinely upset by the fact that this guy had robbed a disabled man."

While no one has yet been arrested in connection with the incident, the help of these two men - and the fact that Mr Rooney chased the robber - may well have been instrumental in his wallet being returned later that evening.

"It was missing the money that was there, but it wasn't very much anyway, and I was just delighted to get the tickets for the concert back, as it meant I was still able to go," he said.

"I would like to pass on my thanks to the manageress of the British Heart Foundation shop who was so helpful."

A police spokeswoman said: "An investigation is under way to trace a man who stole cash from a man's wallet in the Kirkgate shopping centre, Leith, on Sunday, April 24.

"Police are following a positive line of inquiry."