A sexual predator has been jailed for seven years for a campaign of horrific domestic abuse spanning 25 years.
Michael Gray was also placed on a Order for Lifelong Restriction, meaning he will be supervised for the rest of his life, after being found guilty of 18 offences of physical and sexual assault.
Alcoholic Gray, 50, who drank up to four bottles of cider a day, was previously branded a “danger to women” by trial judge Lord Mulholland.
He was described as an opportunist who sexually assaulted his victims while they slept and used them as punchbags when they were awake.
The offences involving seven women took place in Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath between 1987 and 2012.
The unemployed fish farm worker, of Adamson Road, Lochgelly, was found guilty in October of 10 rapes, three indecent assaults, three assaults to the danger of life and a knife attack which resulted in the victim needing 11 stitches in a wound in her hand.
He was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday.
Gray was investigated by Police Scotland’s Domestic Abuse Task Force after victims were identified and over the course of eight months of detailed inquires, a significant case was built up against him.
Detective Chief Inspector Debra Forrester said: “I would firstly like to commend the outstanding courage of the women who came forward and reported the abuse they had experienced as this proved vital in securing Gray’s conviction and subsequent sentence.
“Michael Gray is a predator and a callous and violent individual, who subjected his victims to a campaign of horrific physical and sexual crime over a 25-year period.
“He has received the Order for Lifelong Restriction because of the risk he poses which will impact on the rest of his life.
“This should serve as a clear reminder that domestic abuse in all its forms will not be tolerated and perpetrators of such offences will be brought to justice.”
