Robbery in Rose Street – Bridge naming – Services for Children given top marks! – French Institute film season – Castle Cam
Police in Edinburgh are appealing for witnesses after a woman was robbed in the city centre yesterday.
The 31-year-old was walking along Rose Street at around 3.30pm, as she made her way to the bank with her company’s weekend takings.
As she neared the Primark store, a man approached and grabbed at her shoulder bag, making off with a four-figure sum of cash, which was inside.
The suspect is described as white, 5ft 10ins tall with an average build. He was wearing a grey hooded top and grey jogging bottoms.
Detectives are particularly keen to trace two females who witnessed the incident and alerted security staff at Primark, who in turn contacted police.
They are now asked to come forward.
Detective Sergeant Lynsey Thomson said: “While the victim was in no way injured, she was understandably distressed as a result of this theft and we are conducting local enquiries, including viewing CCTV footage, to identify the male responsible.
“We are eager to trace the two female members of the public who witnessed this incident and reported it to Primark’s security, as they may have valuable information that can assist with our enquiries.
“Similarly, anyone else who was in Rose Street yesterday afternoon and remembers seeing anything suspicious is also asked to get in touch.”
Those with information can contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively, via the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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Transport Scotland have chosen the five names for the unimaginatively named Forth Replacement Crossing which the public can now vote on, and which will decide the final name for the new £2bn structure. More here.
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A major new report has praised services for children in Edinburgh.
The joint inspection report for ‘Services for Children and Young People in the City of Edinburgh’ was carried out by the Care Inspectorate.
Their pilot report, the first one to be carried out under new inspection rules highlights the many positive areas of work being carried out by the City of Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian, Police Scotland and voluntary organisations in the Capital.
Inspectors spent three months with a range of agencies and talking to children, young people and families. They found:
“The vision for children, young people and families is generating strong commitment to partnership working, improving lives, and tackling inequalities. Strong leadership and direction for the Getting it Right approach is underpinning successful joint working and integrated services….
“…encouraging trends are being achieved in the outcomes for all children and young people and in reducing outcome gaps for those whose life chances are at risk. Considerable improvements have been made in the quality of services to protect children.”
Particular strengths that are making a difference include: the high motivation and strong commitment of staff to improving the life chances of vulnerable children, young people and families; the actions taken to keep children and young people at risk of abuse and harm safe and the wide range of measures consulting and seeking the views of children and young people. Also highlighted were the strong culture and positive partnership working at all levels and the visionary leadership and direction of the Edinburgh Children’s Partnership and commitment to prevention and early intervention.
The report highlights three particular examples of good practice:
- Family Nurse Partnership involves specially trained family nurses offering all young parents under the age of 20 very high levels of support from early pregnancy right up until their babies are two-years-old.
- The Healthy Weight Initiative has a wide range of staff in health, education, community, leisure and youth work trained to help children, young people and families adopt healthy lifestyles.
- Growing Confidence is a programme in nurseries and schools to build self-esteem and confidence. It encourages children and young people to manage things that might be getting in the way of their learning. It also helps many parents and carers to get more involved in supporting their child’s education and overall well-being.
Councillor Paul Godzik, Education, Children and Families Convener, said: “This is the first time all the organisations involved in delivering these services have been assessed under the new system and it’s very encouraging that the report highlights the positive work being carried out.
“It’s important that all of us who work with children, young people and families continue to engage well with them and improve on what has been achieved so far.
“We all realise that there is still more to be done but the high level of partnership work and co-operation in Edinburgh means we appear to be Getting it Right for those who need our services.”
Chief Superintendent Mark Williams, Divisional Commander for the City of Edinburgh, said: “We welcome the publication of the Care Inspectorate report, which highlights the successful joint working between partner agencies in Edinburgh in providing services for children, young people, and their families.
“Police Scotland is committed to keeping people safe, and we are pleased the Care Inspectorate has recognised the work that has been undertaken through the Edinburgh Children’s Partnership to enhance the level of protection offered to vulnerable children and young people in the Capital.
“Nonetheless, we acknowledge the need for us to continue to build on what has already being achieved, and we will continue to work closely with partners in City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian to improve our approach to keeping people safe.”
Sally Egan, Associate Director and Child Health Commissioner, NHS Lothian, said: “We welcome this report which contains many positives about the work being carried out by NHS Lothian, including our Family Nurse Partnership and Healthy Weight Initiatives, along with the work of our partner agencies for Lothian’s children and young people.
“We will now endeavour to make improvements which were outlined in the report and maintain the strengths already identified.
“We look forward to continue working in partnership with the Care Inspectorate team, our colleagues at the City of Edinburgh Council and other partners to provide integrated services that improve the lives of our children and young people.”
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The Institut français presents an exclusive Tuesday night-season of French film noir screenings to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary crime author Auguste Le Breton. They say you have to get ready for some Rififi!
With more than 80 novels, Auguste Le Breton (born Auguste Monfort) established himself as an emblematic author of crime fiction with a special insight into the world of French criminal underworld. Close to the Parisian mob in his youth, Le Breton frequented the bars, gambling dens and gangs of Montmartre and gathered real life experiences which he nourished his novels with.
Master of French slang, he is best known for having introduced argot and verlan in literature and for the screen adaptations of many of his novels that instantly became noir classics in the 1950s and 60s. Closely involved in these film adaptations, Le Breton wrote film dialogues (Rififi, Chnouf) and scripts, including the one of Bob the Gambler.
This retrospective will get off to a great start on 14 May 2013 with Rififi (1955), the first among the series of ‘Rififi’ novels adapted for the big screen (Rififi meansfight or bust-up). In this jewel-thief caper, an aging-thief, Tony Le Stephanois (Jean Servais) agrees to attempt one last job and bands together with three collaborators to commit a seemingly impossible robbery. The film ending is magnificent with a suspenseful and almost silent half-hour sequence that depicts the heist in details. For his second European movie, Jules Dassin won the Best Director Award at the 1955 Cannes Festival.
The screening of Rififi will be followed by a discussion chaired by Martine Pierquin, of the University of Edinburgh, with Pierre Fourniaud, General Director of the French publishing house La Manufacture de livres specialising in gangsters’ biographies and crime novels. In 2010 he published a new edition of Le Breton’s Les Pégriots, which tells the true story of Jo la terreur – one of the last ‘knights’ of the early 20th century Parisian mob. Les Pégriots will be soon adapted by actor and film director Olivier Marchal (‘36’, ‘MR73’, ‘Braquo’…) who bought the film rights.
In Chnouf (1955), screened on Tuesday 21 May, Henri Decoin drags us into the crepuscular world of drugs. Jean Gabin plays Henri Ferré, called “Le Nantais”, the head of an international narcotic ring who is assigned to oversee the European branch of his operation. The casting of notable actors includes Marcel Dalio and Magal Noël, and the inimitable Lino Ventura.
Source of inspiration of the French New Wave filmmakers during the 1950s, Jean-Pierre Melville’s film Bob the Gambler (1956) tells the story of a reformed bank robber on a losing streak, Bob Montagne (Roger Duchesne), who plots the heist of the Deauville Casino as his last score. This job will require major financial backing and a gang big enough to occupy all Brittany…
Closing this retrospective on 4 June is The Sicilian Clan (1969), one of the biggest box-office successes in France. Henri Verneuil’s popular crime movie stars three giants of French cinema, Alain Delon as a tough criminal, Jean Gabin as the patriarch of a Sicilian clan and Lino Ventura as a dogged inspector. For this film, the talented composer Ennio Morricone created one of his memorable and unsettling film score.
Thanks to our sponsor Innis & Gunn, audiences will be served free refreshments during the screenings.
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A beautiful day here in Edinburgh means that it is a very good day for the webcam at Edinburgh Castle which you can see here!
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
