A scrap merchant who tortured and raped a woman in Fife and Dundee has been jailed.
Russell Gray, 63, burnt his victim with cigarettes, gas canisters and candle wax, leaving her with “horrendous” injuries.
The woman suffered scars on her face, private parts, legs and arms.
The 30-year-old, who cannot be named, told a jury how Gray repeatedly raped her, often while she was sleeping.
She said he also used unknown objects to sexually assault her.
Gray, formerly of Roundhill Road, St Andrews, had denied the attacks, claiming sex with the woman had been consensual.
He further denied engaging in a course of abusive behaviour by using degrading language towards her by threatening her, controlling her finances and taking videos of her under the influence of drugs and sending them to others.
But a jury found him guilty after hearing harrowing evidence from his victim.
Gray was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow this week.
He was jailed for 11 years and issued with a 99-year non-harassment order.
Second victim
Speaking after the hearing, Detective Constable Alli Brown of the Divisional Rape Investigation Unit said: “Russell Gray is an abusive and violent individual who took advantage of a vulnerable female, showing no remorse for his actions.
“This was a complex and extremely disturbing case and I welcome the court’s findings.”
The officer added: “We understand how distressing this has been for the victim and her family and commend them for the courage they had reporting these crimes.
“We hope that the guilty findings provide some level of closure, knowing that he has been held accountable for his horrific actions.”
During the trial, his victim claimed Gray supplied her with heroin and cocaine in order to make her dependent on him, so he could compel her to submit to his depraved desires.
The attacks happened in Dundee, St Andrews and Cellardyke.
Just weeks after his trial in Livingston, Gray appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court where he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a stranger after hounding her on a bus.
He menaced his victim while they travelled from Dundee city centre to Ninewells Hospital.
Father-of-one Gray, who used to run a scrap metal business before it folded during the pandemic, was convicted of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on July 18 2022.
He repeatedly adopted a menacing demeanour towards the woman, repeatedly pursued her, attempted to engage her in conversation and made sexual remarks towards her at Ninewells Hospital and during the course of a bus journey from the hospital to various locations in Dundee.
Gray, listed as a prisoner at HMP Perth, was also found guilty of sexually assaulting her during the same incident by trying to handle her clothed body.
For that offence, he was jailed for six months and placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.
For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.
