A predator who was warned he could face a life sentence after he carried out a campaign of rape and violence against women will have to wait to hear his fate.
Patrick Chinskie, 47, raped five women throughout Scotland, including Inverness, Nairn and Aviemore over a 23-year period.
A judge earlier told Chinskie, whose middle name is Savage, that he would call for a full risk assessment to be carried out, which could result in the imposition of an Order for Lifelong Restriction.
But at a continued hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday , Judge Kenneth Maciver QC said a psychologist preparing the assessment had asked for a further eight weeks.
The judge earlier said: “These crimes form a virtual unbroken chain of offending from 1990 to 2013.”
Chinskie, who is currently remanded in prison, was charming when he first met victims but quickly became “a vicious and evil abuser”.
The judge previously said that he had been provided with victim impact statements from three of Chinskie’s victims.
He said: “I have to say it is clear from these that your controlling, abusive, violent physical and sexual conduct to them has had a damaging and enduring effect on them.
“The crimes against them were happening against a background of abuse of alcohol and drugs and a pattern of general criminality disclosed in a schedule of 30 other convictions,” he said.
The judge said a previous report prepared on Chinskie ahead of sentencing had used phrases such as “a dangerous predator who has ruined his victims’ lives”.
He said he had come to the view that a full risk assessment should be carried out on Chinskie which could lead to an Order for Lifelong Restriction.
Under such a sentence the court sets a minimum period the offender must serve in prison, but any future release, if at all, is left to the parole authorities.
The judge said: “I am led to the view I would be failing in my duty if I were not to pursue the matter of risk assessment further in order to ensure the court protects the public and potential future victims of crime.”
Chinskie’s defence counsel Gordon Jackson QC had urged the judge to deal with Chinskie by a determinate sentence with a further period of supervision to give him “a date on the door”.
Advocate depute Bill McVicar said the Crown submitted that a risk assessment order should be made in the case.
Chinskie, formerly of Boat of Garten, who appeared in court walking with the aid of a crutch, was earlier convicted of a total of 12 charges including rape, abduction and assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.