Woman raped in alleyway while out to buy cigarettes

A WOMAN was ushered down an alleyway and raped between two bins after popping out to buy cigarettes.

The 34-year-old was heading home from Scotmid in Leith Walk, Edinburgh, when she was approached by a young man.

He took her into Balfour Street and raped her, before running off down Leith Walk, towards Leith.

The distraught victim was found in a hysterical state by a passer-by shortly after the attack at 11pm on Thursday, and the police were called.

The man, who was caught on CCTV, is white, in his early twenties, about 5ft 9in, with distinctive short, spiky blond hair and a high forehead.

He has a muscular build, is tanned and was wearing dark blue or black trousers, possibly jeans, black shoes and a black zipped top with a red top underneath.

Police have been making door-to-door inquiries in the area and will be carrying out extra patrols in an effort to reassure residents.

Detective Chief Inspector John McKenzie, who is leading the investigation, said: "This has been a very traumatic experience for the woman, and we are doing all we can to trace the person responsible. This kind of attack is very rare and we do understand that it will be concerning to the public.

"We have a large team working on this and will continue to do so until we identify the individual concerned. There will be additional patrols in the area to provide reassurance to the community, and we will continue to dedicate that to the area."

Although the man spoke to his victim as he approached her on Leith Walk, she has been unable to say if he was local, and police are not limiting inquiries to Leith. They have not linked the rape to any other similar attacks at this stage.

DCI McKenzie said: "We are keeping a very, very open mind. I do not want to pre-judge anything. We are not narrowing this down to Leith.

"There would have been a lot of pedestrians and traffic about at the time of the attack.

"A lot of pubs were still open and the World Cup game between Mexico and France had not long finished.

"We will be visiting pubs in the general area and making an appeal to anyone in the vicinity, if they have any knowledge of who this individual was, to come forward."

They would also like to speak to anyone who saw the victim. She is 5ft 4in, slim, with just past shoulder-length brown hair, and was wearing stonewashed jeans and a turquoise cardigan.

DCI McKenzie said: "At this stage we are concentrating on forensics, CCTV and door-to-door inquiries, which started yesterday afternoon.

"There is work ongoing in relation to his description to see if it matches anyone in the vicinity."

Anyone with information should call Lothian and Borders Police on 0131-311 3131 or Crimestoppers, in confidence on 0800 555 111.