A “dangerous” rapist has been jailed for 14 years for a campaign of violence against three women and an underage girl.
Alastair Nicolson, 55, preyed on his victims between 1991 and 2001 in the Highland and Argyll and Bute areas.
A court heard how Nicolson subjected one woman to repeated beatings.
He would pull her hair, punch her on the head, call her derogatory names and threaten her with a knife, hammer, and scissors.
He also hit her with a fire poker and a coal bucket, before throttling her to the danger of her life.
Nicolson also threatened to find a gun.
The abuser was found to have sexually abused a young girl while she was under the influence of cannabis he had supplied.
Nicolson carried out sex acts on her when she was aged between 12 and 14 and would go on to rape her on a single occasion.
He also slapped her during an attack.
A second woman also suffered at the hands of Nicolson, with a third brutally beaten during violent assaults.
The woman was punched, kicked, headbutted, slapped, and had a cigarette stubbed out on her.
During one assault, Nicolson broke her tooth, stamped on her head, compressed her neck with his hands and threatened to kill her.
Judge Lord Weir stated: “It is apparent that you maintain your denial of responsibility for any of the offending of which you were convicted.
“Indeed, the social worker reported evidence that you sought to discredit the motives of your victims.
“The complainers have had to live with the consequences of your offending behaviour over many years, while you have shown no remorse.
“The victim impact information available to the court, and which I have studied, speaks eloquently of the impact of your offending and its profound and long-lasting effects.”
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Nicolson admitted possessing cannabis but denied all other charges against him.
Following a trial at the High Court in Inverness in May, jurors found him guilty of nine offences – including rape, assault, assault to injury and danger of life, and indecent behaviour towards a girl aged between 12 and 15.
Defence counsel Mark Stewart KC said: “He accepts the jury verdict, as he must, but he respectfully disagrees with it.”
Nicolson received the 14-year jail term at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday.
He was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and was banned from contacting three of his victims.
Katrina Parkes, Scotland’s procurator fiscal for high court sexual offending, said: “Alastair Nicolson is a dangerous, controlling and violent individual who inflicted unimaginable trauma on the women he targeted.
“His prolific offending has now been ended thanks to the courage of his victims who reported him to the authorities.
“I hope this conviction brings them some comfort that he is being held accountable for his actions.”