Rapist sentenced to life for ‘a series of evil crimes’

A rapist who spent 13 years subjecting six vulnerable females to sexual and physical abuse has been jailed for life.

Brian Mackenzie, 40, was given an order for lifelong restriction by judge Lord Uist following a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He was convicted last year of “a series of evil crimes” against a number of terrified women and girls which were committed in Edinburgh and Fife.

His crimes included rape, attempted rape, underage sex, indecency and assault.

Jurors at MacKenzie’s trial heard how his youngest victims were aged just eight and 10-years-old. One of his victims was left so traumatised by what had happened to her that she didn’t leave her house for three years.

Over the past year, specially accredited social workers have spent time assessing how much of a risk MacKenzie posed to the public.

Yesterday, Lord Uist imposed a life sentence on MacKenzie after concluding he did pose a risk to women’s safety.

The former security guard was found guilty of a total of nine sex offences against three women and two children and physical violence towards three women after a five-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in April 2015.

MacKenzie’s offending took place between March 2000 and July 2013.

It included molesting a girl who was aged 12 at a house in Glenrothes in 2012 and 2013.