Police hunt gang after spate of bike thefts across Capital

Police believe up to four individuals are responsible for the spate of thefts over the past few months, targeting dozens of the high-end mountain and racing bikes which were shipped to London and resold.

Among those to be targeted was 14-year-old Sean Noon, who recently had his prized bike returned after it was recovered by police from a house in Fernieside Gardens on June 17.

The racing bike was decorated in memory of his late grandmother, Jeanie Noon.

The bike had been partly paid for by her when she was terminally ill with cancer and Sean had it redecorated it in her honour after she passed away in February last year.

Sadly, a number of the decorations had been cut off the bike, but Sean's father, Tam, said it was "relatively undamaged". He said he believed the bike had been dumped after it became "too hot to handle" following a plea in the Evening News to return the treasured item and pick up a 500 reward.

Mr Noon said: "We got it back on Friday from a house in Edinburgh and it's in almost undamaged condition, which was amazing considering it had been five weeks since it was taken.

"I received a phone call last Thursday from someone who said they had found it. I am sure it was the publicity that made Sean's bike just too hot to handle and it would appear that the thieves dumped it."

"We're glad to have it back."

Police in Wester Hailes believe that a gang of thieves is behind a spate of thefts, with sources saying the stolen property is worth around 65,000.

It is not known how many bikes were returned to their rightful owners, but many are thought to have been resold in England.

Mr Noon said: "We would like to thank everyone who texted and e-mailed messages of sympathy and support in our efforts to get my son's bike back. We had a lot of sympathetic texts from other people who had had things stolen."

The bike was stolen in May from a bike rack in the Omni Centre.