A violent serial rapist who attacked women in Dundee and Aberdeen has been caged for more than a decade.
James Henderson raped his first victim in 2008 and continued to carry out sex attacks until 2021.
Henderson, 45, had denied a series of charges during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh but was found guilty in November of three offences of rape and a further attempted rape.
Henderson has now been sentenced to 14 years behind bars, followed by a further four years of extended sentence supervision.
Henderson, who has previously been jailed for violent offending and was earlier made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, repeatedly attacked his first victim between March and August in 2008 at a flat in Aberdeen.
During the sexual abuse, he grabbed the woman by the hair and forced her onto a bed before raping her.
He went on to attack and attempt to rape a second woman in January 2014 at a flat in Dundee.
He grabbed her by the head and pulled her head towards his groin in a bid to carry out a rape.
‘Easier to have sex than get beaten again’
He attacked a third woman in July 2015 at another address in Dundee and pulled her by the body before subjecting her to rape.
His fourth victim was repeatedly raped in 2021 at another flat in Dundee.
During assaults on her, he grabbed her by the hair, struck her on the head, pulled her ears and dragged her about.
One woman told the court that the abuse she was subjected to by Henderson was “just continuous”.
She said: “I know that he raped me that night, but then I would have sex with him to keep him happy.”
The woman told the court: “It was just easier to have sex rather than go through getting beaten again. It was just for my own safety.”
Upon conviction, Lady Haldane told Henderson: “You have been convicted of a series of rapes against women who were all, to a greater or lesser extent, vulnerable.
“You used violence or threats of violence to perpetrate many of these offences.”
Police welcome sentencing
Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Gordon Patullo said: “Henderson will now have to face the consequences of his actions and I hope this sentence provides some form of comfort for his victims.
“Police Scotland is committed to bringing those responsible for sexual crimes to justice. We will continue to work alongside our partners to support victims and ensure offenders are brought to justice.”
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