Rapist who attacked women while asleep or in pain is jailed for 10 years

A man has been jailed for 10 years for raping three women, including while one woman was asleep.

Liam Scott, from Walkerburn in the Scottish Borders, was found guilty of five charges of rape between 2015 and 2019.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how the 28-year-old also used intimidation, aggression and physical violence during the attacks, and that he "took advantage" of women when they were in pain or exhausted.

Judge Lord Harrower said Scott "consistently" prioritised his own sexual gratification over any concern for the wellbeing of the women.

This story contains details which some readers may find distressing.

One of the women involved in the case told BBC News that Scott had attacked and raped her daily in the year they were in a relationship together.

Hazel, not her real name, said she was not allowed access to her mobile phone or bank account and was often locked in the home.

She said that on one occasion, Scott assaulted her for about two hours - including kicking her - while she was 14 weeks pregnant.

Hazel said: "I had to roll myself into a ball and protect my stomach because I was pregnant at the time and the words that kept coming out of his mouth were 'I want you and the baby dead' over and over again.

''I genuinely thought I'm not going to make it out, my daughter definitely wasn't going to make it and I was going to die..... I was cut off from my loved ones, had no communications.''

Scott, who denied any wrongdoing, was convicted earlier this year.

Lord Harrower said there were "common" themes in his offending.

He said: "The first is that the abuse was carried out against a background of intimidation and aggressive behaviour, punctuated by acts of physical violence.

"Second, the intimidation that aggression would become worse following your consumption of drink or drugs.

"And third, you consistently prioritised your own sexual gratification over any concern for the wellbeing of these women.

"Whether that involved taking advantage of them, when they were asleep, insisting on sex while they were in pain, or pestering them for sex, when they were exhausted and unable to resist."

Defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran KC told the court that his client still maintained he did nothing wrong.

"He has had adverse childhood experiences which must have had an impact on his development," he said.

Lord Harrower also placed Scott on the sex offenders register and said he would also be supervised by the authorities for three years following his release from custody.

Scott was also given an lifelong order requiring him not to harass or contact his victims.

Hazel welcomed Scott's10-year jail sentence but criticised the decision to drop domestic abuse charges against him - something she said she only found out about on social media after the trial.

She said the Crown's victim support team and procurator fiscal had been very helpful but she felt she had been "totally dismissed".

"I was already fragile from the court case and standing up on the witness stand, that broke me like it was nine years ago. It broke me all over again, I shut down," she said.

The Crown Office said the prosecution focused the jury on the charges which reflected the most serious criminality.

A spokesperson said: "Liam Scott is a convicted rapist and abuser.

"We are grateful to the women whose evidence secured these convictions, and we hope they feel able to move forward with their lives."

Rape Crisis Scotland said dropping charges without the women's knowledge was "completely unacceptable".

The charity's external affairs manager, Nicola Love, said: "Survivors deserve to be informed about what is happening to them and why it's happening to them, if that's what they want.

"I don't think any survivor should be getting to the conclusion of a court case and learning for the very first time that charges have been dropped."