Fife man faces rape charges

Two women have given evidence portraying a rape accused as a controlling, violent sex beast.

A 35-year-old mother-of-one told a jury that Mark Wallace physically beat her and sexually abused her for nearly two years from the age of 16.

A 57-year-old self-employed businesswoman made similar claims that she was the victim of repeated rapes and violence by the accused.

Wallace, 38, of Urquhart Crescent, Dunfermline, is accused of five counts of raping or sexually assaulting four women between July 1999 and December 2015.

He is also charged with an assault on one of the complainers and assaults on each of the women to their injury and danger of their life.

He faces a further two charges of committing a breach of the peace by uttering threats and one of malicious damage.

He denies all the charges at the trial before Lord Burns at the High Court in Livingston.

Giving evidence from behind a screen yesterday, the 35-yearold woman from Fife – who can’t be named for legal reasons – claimed Wallace cut her off from her family and friends.

She said: “I thought it was normal in a relationship but as I grew older my view changed. I now know that some of the acts between Mark and I were rape.”

Another woman, a 57-yearold from Glasgow, said Wallace had thrown one of her dogs across the room after she refused to give him money.

The trial continues.