Rapist fascinated by blood warned he faces life in prison

A jury convicted him last year of two charges of rape, four serious assaults and a sex attack. They heard he slashed two of his victims with scissors because he had a fascination for watching them bleed.

In a separate attack, he held a poker over his victim's face and threatened to burn her eyes out.

At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, Lord Woolman imposed an order for lifelong restriction on MacLennan and ordered him to spend a minimum of five years behind bars. The order means MacLennan will only be released from prison by the parole board if they deem it is safe to do so.

Lord Woolman told MacLennan: "Let me emphasise again that that does not mean that you will be released after five years… There is a possibility that you may never be released back into the community."

MacLennan, from the Highlands, who was also found guilty of downloading child pornography, carried out the attacks between 2000 and 2009.

He assaulted his first victim in Inverness, raping her as she slept. He also assaulted her on various occasions in 2000, punching her on the face and body.

He struck again about four years later, throttling another woman while she was pregnant and threatening to kill her. In 2006 or 2007, he raped her.

He later attacked a third victim, slapping her, threatening to kill her and holding a smashed bottle to her throat. She was also subjected to a serious sexual assault.

MacLennan was found to have 32 indecent images of children on his laptop. Some of them were at level four on a five-point scale grading their severity.

Frances McMenamin, QC, defending, told the court MacLennan still maintains his innocence.

She added: "He is well motivated to undertake any courses that might be offered to him in prison in order that he can address the problems that he does recognise he has."

Lord Woolman told MacLennan a lifelong restriction order was appropriate "because you present a high risk to the safety of the public at large".

Northern Constabulary said MacLennan had carried out "horrendous" abuse on his victims.

Inspector Pamela Ross, of the public protection unit in Dingwall, said: "I hope that the sentencing will give confidence to any victims who have been affected by any kind of sexual abuse to come forward and be reassured their case will be sensitively and thoroughly investigated, and that the outcome can be positive."