Girl, 9 'petrified' as man threatened to throw her in canal

The girl, who has chosen to remain anonymous, and her mother, were cycling along a path next to the Union Canal om their way back from a sports training session, when the man blocked the girl’s path.

She told the BBC that she had tried to cycle past him when he deliberately stepped in front of her.

He said she was going too fast and told her that the path was only for people on foot.

"He was eating a packet of Walkers cheese and onion crisps and he wasn't blinking," she said.

"Then he said the 'F word' and I'm going to throw you into the canal. I was petrified.

"He had big bulgy hazel eyes, a bald head and was huge. I thought he was literally going to pick me up and throw me into the canal."

She said she was too scared to say anything other than "OK".

When her mother, 44, caught up to them, the man said he would push them both into the canal.

Two years ago, police warned of a man who had been seen around the Meggetland area of the city, pushing people into the canal.

The girl’s mother asked the man if he was the “canal pusher”. She said he resembled the description of the man searched for by police in 2022.

"He got even more angry and puffed up a bit more and looked like he was actually going to chuck me in and my daughter," she said.

"In that moment I realised actually I'm in big trouble potentially and I need to get away. It was very scary.

"I told him we would walk instead of cycling and we edged away."

Two years ago, Police Scotland said they were “patrolling the canal”, following “reports of a white man, 60ish, possibly tanned complexion, 5'7"-5'10", medium to stocky build with grey/balding hair pushing people into the water in the area of Meggetland”.

It is understood the police have not linked the latest incident with the spate of attacks in 2022.