15-year-old boys riding on a stolen motorbike.

ROGUE bikers terrorising a city estate were targeted during a police blitz involving officers on off-road motorbikes.
Two youths were charged following the operation in Craigmillar aimed at tackling the growing menace.

Police "spotters" were deployed to the tower blocks at Greendykes to track the illegal riders from their vantage points.

The spotters then radioed their movements to uniformed officers in unmarked cars on the ground, who directed in the force's own bikers.

Although officers from the motorcycle unit are not permitted to chase suspects, the experienced riders are trained to bring them to a "controlled stop".

Within an hour, the team had arrested a pair of 15-year-old boys riding on a stolen motorbike.

Another youth was hit with a warning under antisocial behaviour laws after being caught racing across fields on a friend's dirt-bike. Sergeant Alan Bowie, who led the crackdown, said: "It's a lot like fishing.

"We try to close in when we see some movement to block off their routes.

"But it can be difficult as they are often on very powerful bikes. They are a danger to themselves and others."

Two unmarked cars with staff from the city council's Neighbourhood Response Team were joined by eight officers, including the two police bikers.

The bike patrols allows police to negotiate the bumpy fields favoured by the off-roaders which are inaccessible to police cars.

A Youth Action Team van with its roof-mounted CCTV camera recorded the operation while handheld DVD cameras were also issued. The footage could be used in evidence against any bikers who eluded police but were later traced.

Residents in Craigmillar have complained of youngsters riding noisy bikes, scooters and minibikes on pavements, paths and fields, often unlicensed and without wearing helmets.

Only minutes after the teams left Craigmillar police station at 1.45pm on Friday, the spotters identified their first target of the day. Three youths were seen riding on a black Yamaha Dragster 650cc bike on fields at the Jack Kane Centre. Moments later, a call came in telling the officers that the owner of the same model of bike had just appeared at the station's front counter to report it stolen.

The alleged joyriders disappeared from sight but soon another pair of suspects had come into view.

The police off-road bikes were dispatched to the scene and moved to intercept the two 15-year-olds on fields behind Greendykes Road. The rider tried to make off but crashed into a massive hole in the ground and both youths were thrown from the bike.

Each was wearing a helmet and escaped uninjured but they were soon led away in handcuffs after a check of the vehicle's chassis number revealed it had been reported stolen in February.

Pc Graeme Paxton, one of the force motorcylists, said: "We don't pursue them as they may have an accident just like that. The suspects spotted us through the woods and tried to make off."

At 2.30pm, another biker was spotted tearing through the fields behind the Greendykes flats.

The teenager had borrowed the bike from a friend and a police check quickly confirmed his story. But he was hit with an antisocial behaviour warning, which gives the police powers to seize the bike if it is used in a second offence.

Sgt Bowie said: "The hotspot areas for us are the playing fields around the Jack Kane Centre, the rear of the flats at Greendykes, Craigmillar Country Park and the area around the city dump."

He added that the BMX track at the Jack Kane Centre and the 100ft-long statueGulliver the Gentle Giant, designed in Barlinnie prison by murderer-turned-author Jimmy Boyle, were also magnets for illegal bikers. The police team were soon called to Craigmillar country park after the spotters again spotted the Yamaha Dragster first seen an hour before heading towards the historic castle.

One Greendykes resident, who asked not to be named, said that the bikers were a constant source of danger. He said: "Some of these kids are riding around like crazy. It's a wonder they don't kill themselves or someone else."

In January, pair of teenage joyriders were caught on camera by an Evening News photographer torching a stolen car after racing it around the same muddy fields between the ERI and Greendykes. The 14-year-olds, who were set free by the Children' Panel, were finally locked up in a secure accommodation unit in February after embarking on another crime spree.

The full article contains 763 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

original article
Two held after police go hot on the wheels of biker yobs - Edinburgh Evening News