A former doorman from Fife who threatened to kill an unborn child during a catalogue of brutality and abuse against women is behind bars.
Stephen Whyte, 47, subjected four victims to violence and controlling behaviour during crimes that spanned 14 years.
One woman told the High Court in Edinburgh she was repeatedly raped when Whyte was angry, leaving her crying and bleeding as he slapped and bit her on the neck and body.
She told the jury: “He would put his hand on my throat.
“It was tight, very tight.
“I was struggling to breathe. I was scared.”
Whyte, of Malcolm Street, Dunfermline, had denied a series of charges during the trial but was convicted of a total of 17 offences, including three rapes and four indecent assaults.
He was also found guilty of carrying out physical assaults, breach of the peace and abusive behaviour towards victims.
The crimes were committed between February 2006 and August 2020 at locations in his home town and in Kirkcaldy and Cairneyhill.
One woman was kicked in the stomach while she was pregnant and Whyte also threatened to kill the child she was carrying – an allegation he claimed was “just ridiculous”.
Kicked and throttled young victim
His first victim, who was aged 20 when she met Whyte in a pub, said she was subjected to a painful sexual attack and added: “I was bleeding for a few days.”
She said that after such assaults she would be “crying every time”.
Advocate depute Bill McVicar asked if Whyte had been angry and forced her and she replied: “Yes.”
She said after some of the sex attacks she was “struggling to breathe, sometimes I was sick”.
During assaults she was punched, kicked, throttled, grabbed by the hair and dragged on the ground.
Tightened electric cord on woman’s neck
Whyte put an electrical cord around the neck of another woman and tightened it, restricting her breathing, and burned her with a cigarette.
A third woman was gripped by the throat and throttled by Whyte, who stamped on her mobile phone and ripped a telephone wire and internet router from a wall at a property in Dunfermline.
Another woman was subjected to repeated rapes and Whyte threatened and controlled her.
Mr McVicar told the court following the jury’s verdicts Whyte has previous convictions but not for sexual offending.
He added he has not previously served a prison term.
The judge, Lord Armstrong, called for a background report to be prepared ahead of sentencing.
Whyte had been on bail but he was remanded in custody until January 5 and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
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