A violent rapist who throttled women during a catalogue of physical and sexual abuse was jailed for 10 years today.
Keith Donald raped two women and attempted to rape a third in attacks he committed over a nine-year period.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, a judge told him: “A lengthy custodial sentence is the only appropriate disposal.”
Judge Simon Collins QC also ordered that Donald, 42, should be kept under supervision for a further four year period and warned that if he failed to comply with licence conditions during that time he may be returned to prison.
The judge said that evidence accepted by a jury suggested a pattern of abuse and violence committed by him over a period of years.
No empathy or remorse
He said Donald had shown no remorse or empathy for the victims and instead blamed them.
Donald, formerly of Cairn Road, Kemnay, had denied a series of charges during an earlier trial.
He was convicted of eight offences, including four rapes, an attempted rape and a sexual assault.
He was also found guilty of attacking two of his victims to the danger of their lives.
He raped his first victim in 2004 at an address in Aberdeenshire when she was pushed onto a bed and her lower clothing pulled down by her attacker.
During assaults the woman was hit on the head and body and also pinned against a wall after Donald pushed an item of furniture against her body.
Donald then struck again against the woman when she was raped in 2006. He also carried out a life-endangering assault on the woman in May that year when he pushed her to the ground and grabbed her by the neck and restricted her breathing as he throttled her and repeatedly punched her on the head.
Second victim seized by the throat
In 2010 he attacked a second woman in Aberdeenshire and tried to rape her after taking her mobile phone when she was asleep and damaging it.
She also had her neck compressed after he seized her by the throat. She was pushed onto a bed and Donald struggled with her during the sex attack.
His third victim was also attacked at a property in Aberdeenshire in 2013 when she was subjected to a sexual assault and rape.
During the rape attack Donald restrained her arms and again gripped her by the neck and restricted her breathing as he assaulted her to the danger of her life.
Defence solicitor advocate James Keegan QC said he was concerned that Donald had expressed a threat of suicide.
Donald was told that he would be placed on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period following sentencing, which he followed via a video link to prison.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen and the latest crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.Â