Police Hunt Cashpoint Attacker

Police are looking for a man who attacked a woman at a cashpoint and tried to rob her in Portswood.

Just before 10pm Saturday, November 3, the 48-year-old blonde woman went up to the the Lloyds-TSB cashpoint at the corner of Portswood Road and Highfield Lane. 

She noticed a young man near railings about 10 yards from the machine. The man was white, about 20, slim and 5ft 7-8ins tall. He wore a light-coloured hooded top and light-coloured three-quarter length trousers.

As she was taking out money, she was grabbed from behind by the arms, and her attacker attempted to turn her around. She resisted and shouted at the man, who walked away. She recognised him as the man who had been near the railings. 

The man then returned and pinned the woman against the wall before running away along Highfield Lane towards The Avenue. 

Nothing was taken, and the woman suffered only bruising to her arms. Detective Constable Steven Lanham is appealing for witnesses to the incident. "At that time on a Saturday night, there would have been many people nearby in pubs and fast food outlets. 

Some of them may have seen the failed robbery and assumed it was a couple having an argument. The man would have looked unusual in the cropped trousers, given the time of year and the poor weather."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact DC Lanham at Bitterne CID on 101 or the anonymous Crimestoppers charity line on 0800 555 111.