Angus rapist jailed for nine years

A rapist has been jailed for nine years after attacking pregnant women over a 15-year period.

Mark Duthie preyed on seven women, subjecting them to rape, assault and abduction.

Duthie, 33, began committing crimes against females at the age of 16 by kicking his first victim in the stomach while she was pregnant and in a separate incident at a house in Forfar holding her down and raping her in 2003.

Eight years later he subjected another woman to rapes at a house in Montrose. On one occasion he assaulted her while she was asleep and on another she was punched in the head.

Other victims were subjected to violence by Duthie. One woman was kicked in the groin at a lane in Brechin in August 2009 while she was pregnant.

A judge told Duthie, formerly of Barry, near Carnoustie, that victims had experienced long-lasting emotional and psychological trauma.

Lord Boyd of Duncansby said: “You appear to have no conception of the harm you inflicted on these women.”

Duthie was earlier found guilty of a total of 28 charges committed between January 2003 and January 2018.

Lord Boyd said: “It is a catalogue of physical and sexual assault over a 15-year period.”

The judge said that apart from the rapes against two of the women, Duthie had also carried out “a sustained course of physical and psychological abuse” against victims over a long period of time.

Duthie was told he would be kept under supervision and monitored for a further two years. He was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

He locked some of his victims in houses in Montrose and throttled women in attacks in the Angus town and in Arbroath.

Defence solicitor advocate Chris Fyffe told the High Court in Edinburgh that Duthie continued to deny the bulk of the offending.

Detective Sergeant Gordon Patullo said he hoped the conviction sent a clear message that domestic abuse crimes would be robustly investigated.

“It is clear Duthie is an extremely violent and dangerous male, who will justly face the consequences of his appalling acts of violence and sexual abuse,” he said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to praise his victims for their bravery in facing the trauma and coming forward.”