A north-east man has been jailed after he admitted a “sustained” campaign of sexualised abuse against two women.
David Burnett, from Boddam, also shared intimate pictures in a misogynistic online chat, where members urged him to rape one of his victims, Peterhead Sheriff Court was told.
In another disturbing incident, the 46-year-old demanded his second victim cut herself on camera and “smirked” as she did.
Sheriff Craig Findlater jailed Burnett for 27 months, saying the nature of his offending was “extremely serious”.
Fiscal depute Emma Peterson told the court that Burnett would constantly ask one woman to send him sexual photographs of herself and ask her for sex.
When she refused, the court heard, Burnett tried to force himself on her, pinning her to a bad and exposing her chest.
Ms Peterson said: “She told him ‘No’ and pushed him away. Later that evening she received a text from him saying ‘you horny?’ and she replied to say ‘I wish you would stop all this’.”
Burnett persisted in messaging the woman, asking to see her breasts and other similar requests until she eventually contacted the police.
‘Rape her, even if she says no’
Police Scotland’s cyber crime unit examined his mobile phone and it was found to contain intimate photos of the woman and others.
“There were 573 pages of messages shared with 30 individuals on group chats,” Ms Peterson said.
The chats were filled with misogynistic language, including a message that said “rape her, even if she says no”.
The court heard more vile language read from the text messages and details of how Burnett had told one of the women to self-harm.
“She had told him she had cut herself,” Ms Peterson said. “He asked to see the cut and for her to cut further – on a Facetime video. He smirked as she did.”
The court heard how Burnett also threatened to show intimate photos of the woman to her husband.
She finally contacted the police when her husband got a text message from Burnett containing a screenshot of a message, Ms Peterson explained.
‘The offences before this court are manifestly extremely serious’
Burnett’s defence agent Sam Milligan said his client was in a position of denial and had not offended since the incidents in the charges.
On sentencing, Sheriff Findlater noted a lack of similar previous offending but added this was “undercut” by the charges, which reveal more than two years’ worth of “sustained” and “aggressive” sexual offending.
He said: “The nature of the offences before this court are manifestly extremely serious.
“In particular, charge three discloses a series of sexual assaults, including a sustained matter involving pinning down on the bed.
“The nature of charge four with the extensive chats with multiple anonymous individuals encouraging sexual violence against [the first complainer] and the manner in which the behaviour in charge five was controlling.”
Jailing Burnett for 27 months, Sheriff Findlater said: “Overall, on taking account of the seriousness and sustained nature of the offending in this case, I do consider that only a custodial sentence can adequately reflect the sustained […] nature of these offences.”
Burnett was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and was handed a non-harassment order preventing him from contacting either woman for 15 years.
Burnett, of Laird’s Walk, Boddam, sat silently in the dock as the sentence was delivered, speaking only to say “I’m sorry” to a woman in the public gallery as he was led away.
