Rapist Alastair Nicolson jailed for violent attacks on women and underage girls | UK news

A “dangerous” rapist has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for a campaign of violence against three women and an underage girl.

Alastair Nicolson, 55, hunted his victims in the Highland and Argyll and Bute regions between 1991 and 2001.

A court heard how Nicolson repeatedly punched a woman.

He pulled her hair, hit her on the head, insulted her and threatened her with a knife, hammer and scissors.

He also beat her with a poker and a coal bucket before strangling her to death.

Nicolson also threatened to find a weapon.

The perpetrator was found to have sexually abused a young girl while she was under the influence of cannabis, which he had given her.

Nicolson performed sexual acts on her when she was between 12 and 14 years old and then raped her once.

During one attack, he also hit her.

A second woman was also tortured by Nicolson and a third was brutally beaten in violent attacks.

The woman was beaten, kicked, head-butted, slapped, and had a cigarette stubbed out on her lips.

During one of these attacks, Nicolson knocked out her tooth, kicked her in the head, held her neck with his hands and threatened to kill her.

Judge Lord Weir said: “You clearly continue to deny any responsibility for the offences for which you were convicted.

“In fact, the social worker presented evidence that you attempted to discredit the motives of your victims.

“The complainants have had to live with the consequences of their criminal conduct for many years without showing any remorse.

“The victim impact information available to the court and which I have studied speaks volumes about the impact of your offending and its profound and long-lasting consequences.”

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Nicolson admitted possession of cannabis but denied all other charges against him.

Following a trial at the High Court in Inverness in May, the jury found him guilty of nine offences – including rape, assault, assault with a view to endangering life and indecent behaviour towards a girl aged between 12 and 15.

Defence counsel Mark Stewart KC said: “He accepts the jury’s verdict as he must, but he respectfully disagrees with it.”

Nicolson was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Supreme Court. Edinburgh on Friday.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and banned from contact with three of his victims.

Katrina Parkes, Scotland’s High Court sex offender prosecutor, said: “Alastair Nicolson is a dangerous, controlling and violent individual who inflicted unimaginable trauma on the women he targeted.

“Thanks to the courage of his victims who reported him to the authorities, his repeated criminality has now been brought to an end.

“I hope this conviction gives them some comfort in knowing that he will be held accountable for his actions.”