Police arrest man after body found inside city centre flat

The victim was found dead at a second-floor apartment in West Tollcross at around 6.30pm last night.

A man has been arrested by police in connection with the death, which saw several streets in the area cordoned off for more than five hours.

Lothian and Borders Police said the woman had sustained serious injuries to her upper body.

Neighbours described seeing a man being removed from the main door in cuffs before being taken away by officers around 7pm.

Residents also said police had been called to the stair several times in the past and reported seeing a gang with baseball bats outside the block a few months ago.

Forensics were last night scouring the new-build apartment block for evidence.

Alison Ross, 18, an accountancy student at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “We saw the flashing lights and the sirens but thought it was the fire engines across the road as usual.

“Then we heard the car doors banging and police shouting something in the street.

“Within a few minutes there were ten cars and maybe 20 police officers outside.”

Flatmate Helen Younger, 19, an English student at the university, said: “Within a few minutes, police in suits, the CID, arrived and went in.

“About the same time, a doctor in an ambulance car arrived and went inside, but I didn’t see any paramedics and they didn’t take anyone away, as far as we saw.”

Another student, Sammie Logan, 20, whose flat overlooks the building where the incident took place, said more than a dozen police vehicles arrived within a few minutes.

She said: “There was a lot of loud banging, like steel doors being slammed open or shut, just before the police cars arrived.”

Scene of crime officers were examining the flat last night.

The streets around West Tollcross remained cordoned off and residents of the stair were not allowed back into their flats last night.

One resident in the neighbouring building, a 22-year-old student, said police had been called to the stair where the attack took place on a number of occasions in recent months.

She said: “There’s quite a few young neds hang around and a few months ago there was a gang of guys outside with baseball bats shouting up to one of the flats.

“It’s pretty worrying, but we’re just careful who we let in and keep to ourselves.”

A police spokesman said; “When they arrived, officers discovered a female who had sustained serious injuries to her upper body. Despite the best efforts of ambulance crews, she succumbed to these injuries.

“A 28-year-old male is currently in custody in connection with the incident.”

Police are appealing for any witnesses to the incident to come forward.