A prolific Edinburgh thief targeted a west end business just hours after being released from custody, Edinburgh Live understands.
Laura McDonald, 46, who runs Laura's Kitchen in the west end, had her card stolen in the early hours of Tuesday morning. She said police told her the thief, who stole it from her jacket pocket, was released from custody that same morning.
Officers told Laura that she had spent the night in the cells after committing a similar crime. The business owner told us about the ordeal - about which she said officers were "helpful and efficient".
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She added: "This girl came into the shop, it was just after 7am. She asked if she could use the toilet, and I told her it was for customers only.
"She told me she was going to stay, so she used the toilet and ordered a coffee. I made her coffee, and the card she used to pay with didn't work.
"It said insufficient funds, so I pointed her in the direction of a cash point. She never came back, obviously because she'd stolen my bank card out of my pocket. It was in my coat which was hanging on the door in the toilet."
Police informed Laura that the woman is known for doing similar things in the area, and that she had just been released from custody. She told us: "She'd been in the cells overnight. She'd come straight back out and started doing the same things again. It's pretty bad."
Later in the day, Laura received scam calls claiming someone was attempting to use her card online and asking her to confirm her details. She continued: "I was trying to do a days work amongst all of this, and it was busy at the café today."
The business owner also commended the police, who were at the scene within minutes. She said: "The police were really helpful.
"They were very prompt in getting here, with what I thought was such a minor incident. The officer that came in said he had actually dealt with her previously, as in yesterday or the day before."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of the theft of a bank card from a premises on William Street, Edinburgh, around 7.35am on Tuesday, 21 February, 2023. Enquiries are at an early stage and ongoing.”
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