A Fife man has appeared in court accused of a string of serious assaults on four women one of them pregnant two children under the age of 16 and a cat, dating back more than 20 years.
Among the charges being faced by Kane McGuire, 37, of Cellardyke, is one of torturing a child aged between 10 and 12 on various occasions over a three-year period.
It is alleged he repeatedly locked the child in a small dark cupboard, forced the child to strip to its underwear, stand in a bath of cold water and, on one occasion, forced its head under the water and submerged it for a period of time.
McGuire, who appeared in private on two petitions before Sheriff George Way at Dundee Sheriff Court, has also been accused of strangling a pregnant woman and restricting her breathing and, on another occasion, assaulting the same woman by placing his hands around her neck and restricting her breathing.
He is further accused of assaulting another woman by attempting to strike her with a knife and lifting up a 15-year-old and throwing the teenager across the room.
McGuire has also been charged with throwing a cat against a wall, striking another woman on the head with a glass to her injury, repeatedly sending text messages to a woman while on bail and committing a breach of bail by contacting another woman, while on bail.
He made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody for further examination into 10 of the charges.
He was fully committed for trial on the other six charges, having previously appeared in connection with them.