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A GANG of thugs behind a spate of motorbike thefts were caught red-handed – but police twice failed to take action.

The brazen thieves tried to steal a 1000cc bike in broad daylight then threatened onlookers

who tried to stop them with a claw hammer.

Police Scotland were called after the masked youths attempted to steal the high-powered machine in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

But owner Alan Philip was told officers would be unable to attend – leaving the gang to tear around the city at high speed without helmets.

And three hours later, traffic cops refused to chase them in case they got hurt during the pursuit.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: “Of course police shouldn’t act recklessly but if criminals believe they can escape prosecution if they commit crimes on motorbike without a helmet, they’ll all be doing it.

“This is a concerning incident that deserves a full explanation.”

The gang of four had turned up at Sighthill industrial estate on two other motorbikes, also believed to be stolen.

Our pictures show how in full view of several witnesses, they tried to steal Alan’s bike and,

when challenged, one of the gang approached onlookers brandishing a hammer.

The neds then fled at high speed after failing to start Alan’s bike.

Martin Wykes, who works with Alan at a car showroom, said: “A colleague first spotted these four kids on two 1000cc motorbikes hanging around near Alan’s bike outside our work.

“We ran out to ask them what they were doing and one pulled out a hammer and started walking towards us, waving it at us.

“More staff heard the shouting and came out and this lad obviously saw there was more of us than them.

“He walked back towards the bike and they tried to make off with it one more time, right in front of us.

“They were pretty blatant. There were people everywhere but they didn’t seem to care. They were intent on taking this bike and had got the ignition lock off already.

“You could see they were too young to be on those bikes because they were so small and skinny. They wouldn’t be able to handle them properly.”

Police Scotland would not officially comment on the incident because they claim it was never reported to them.

But a log of the call made from Alan’s mobile shows he dialled 999 at 4.56pm on Tuesday and spoke to police for two minutes.

Officers spurned a second chance to nab the gang when Martin drove home that evening and one of the bikes sped past him with two helmetless teens on board.

He flagged down a passing traffic police car and pointed out the yobs 200 yards in front of them – and he was horrified by what he was told.

Martin, 46, said: “I asked if they’d seen these lads without helmets on and explained they’d been involved in an attempted armed robbery.

“He told me that they’d heard about it and while it was frustrating, they couldn’t pursue them in case they fell off their bikes and hurt themselves during the chase.

“Then instead of following the bike from a distance, the police car continued on straight, not

even bothering to see if they could get the lads once they stopped the bike.

“So here we have armed thieves on suspected stolen bikes heading into an area full of families and kids and the police don’t even follow them.

“I don’t get how under any circumstances that can be policing.”

Several bike theft gangs have terrorised Edinburgh in the last two years but police have made clear that officers will not pursue teenagers in high-speed vehicles.

Last month, Chief Constable Sir Stephen House said: “We have strict rules around engagement

in pursuits, for obvious reasons around proportionality – particularly so with motorcycles and particularly where the riders are young, reckless and might not be experienced motorcyclists.

“Frankly, a police pursuit in those circumstances is going to lead to injury so there are all

sorts of complications.”

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