An Aberdeen man has been locked up after being found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another.
Jamie Forbes, 33, wept as he was put in handcuffs following the verdict at his High Court trial.
All the offences – including assaults on two other women – took place between 2016 and 2023.
Forbes, of Willowpark Crescent, denied the charges and had lodged a special defence of consent for one of his victims.
Forbes was found guilty of assaulting one woman by pushing her against a wall and repeatedly shooting her with a BB gun.
He was further convicted of using coercive control over her, making threats of sexual violence towards her, spitting on her face, throwing household objects at her and turning up to her house uninvited.
Forbes was found guilty by majority of domestic abuse towards a second woman by shouting at her, calling her derogatory names and acting in an aggressive manner towards her.
Woman abused after taking sleeping pill
Forbes was found guilty of repeatedly pushing a third woman against walls, shooting her with a BB gun and striking her on the body with a riding crop.
Most seriously, Forbes was found guilty of raping this woman by a majority verdict from the jury.
Forbes was found guilty by a majority verdict of a sexual assault against a fourth woman. The court heard he had carried out this assault after the woman had taken a heavy sleeping sedative.
A further charge of rape against the same woman was dropped by the Crown.
Forbes was also accused of assaulting a husband and wife by using a riding crop and shooting them both with a BB gun. These charges were either dropped by the Crown or found not proven by the jurors.
Animal cruelty allegations
Forbes had also been accused of repeatedly shooting his dog Thor with a BB gun and hitting it on the head with the gun, but this allegation was also dropped during the trial.
The jury of eight women and six men, took seven hours of deliberations to reach their verdicts on 10 charges.
A friend of one of Forbes’ victims gave evidence and said he would often have lengthy video calls with the woman and had sent her money to buy a ticket to “escape the violent treatment” from Forbes.
Advocate depute Graeme Jessop KC asked the man if he had ever witnessed this violence.
He replied to say he had, adding: “He grabbed her and slammed her against a wall and then up on the door.”
Woman revealed bruises to friend
The court heard this had taken place during one of his frequent video calls with the woman.
The witness said: “She was absolutely terrified. I also saw her bruises – she eventually plucked up the courage to show me.”
The court heard on another occasion Forbes was overheard shouting at the woman.
The witness said: “He had found out that she was trying to escape and leave.
“He grabbed her by both wrists and slammed her up against the wall and screamed at her face that she was never going to leave.
“I saw her break down in tears and drop to the floor.”
‘I thought I would end up dead’
That woman also gave evidence and told the court Forbes had raped her after a party, explaining that he had been “drinking excessively” and had at first fallen asleep.
She said Forbes pinned her to the bed by her shoulders.
“I was petrified,” the woman continued. “I thought I would end up dead at the hands of Jamie.”
Mr Jessop asked if she had confronted Forbes the next day.
She replied: “He claimed he didn’t hear me say stop. And that he wasn’t going to stop until he had finished.”
The jury were shown text messages between Forbes and the woman.
Rapist apologised in texts
In the messages she said she “could not forgive” the way he had behaved and told him he had raped her.
Forbes begged her not to go to the police, saying: “Please, I won’t last in jail.”
He also messaged to say “I can’t apologise enough” during the text exchanges.
Another of Forbes’ victims told the court he had sexually assaulted her after she had taken her usual sleeping tablets.
She told the court she had woken to find Forbes using her hand to perform a sex act on him and that when she had later gone to the bathroom, she felt a “burning pain” down below.
A relative of one of the women told the trial that she had seen her with “black and blue marks” on her face and a cut to her head.
Weapons recovered from house
Police witness Detective Constable Daniel Gabrielli said various shapes and sizes of air rifles and BB guns had been retrieved from Forbes’ Willowpark Crescent address – four with ammunition.
The court was told Forbes has two previous convictions for domestic abuse, the latest one dating to 2022, which also had a non-harassment order for five years in place relating to a different woman.
Judge Graham Buchanan deferred sentencing on Forbes but placed him on remand, warning him to expect “in the fullness of time” a custodial sentence.
Forbes, who sobbed as he was led away from the dock in handcuffs, will return to court on May 30.