Callum Gordon was just 18 when he first threatened and attacked a woman in 2009.

The now 33-year-old would go on to target two other women during a spate of offending in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire that continued until 2022.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how his first victim was held down, shouted and swore at, pushed, dragged by her hair, throttled, and thrown against a table and wall during assaults.

In 2010, Gordon subjected the woman to rape attacks and made unwanted and offensive phone calls to the victim.

The second woman was grabbed, shook, slapped and pushed onto a sofa during assaults between 2010 and 2016.

Gordon also hit the victim with a hairbrush and metal object, stood on her foot, and repeatedly raped her.

His aggressive and controlling behaviour included throwing some of her belongings out of a window, damaging her mobile phone, locking her out of her flat, and kicking and hitting a dog in her presence.

In 2017, he broke into a flat while it was unoccupied and waited on his third victim returning to the property before sexually assaulting her.

The following year he shouted and swore at her, punched and kicked her, and hit her on the head with a remote control.

Gordon threatened the woman's dog during his abuse, and punched and kicked the pet in front of her.

He also repeatedly questioned where the victim was and pestered her with phone calls.

'Vulnerable victims'

Judge Lord Braid branded it an "appalling course of sustained criminal conduct".

"All three of your victims spoke in strikingly similar terms of how you would control them, monitor what they were doing, how you would falsely accuse them of infidelity and coerce them into unwanted sexual activity with you.

"You would threaten and abuse them in a variety of ways, in two instances by inflicting violence and cruelty on their dogs."

The judge added: "When you finished a relationship with one partner, you would treat your next partner in the same way.

"Your victims were all, in their own way, vulnerable."

'Serious and lasting psychological harm'

Lord Braid highlighted Gordon's "lengthy" criminal record, which included 15 offences with domestic abuse aggravation.

He said: "Your offending is bound to have caused serious and lasting psychological harm to all of your victims.

"Confirmation of that, should it be needed, comes from the victim statements of two of your victims, in which they each describe the lasting effect your behaviour has had on them, even after all this time.

"I have no difficulty in concluding that you pose a serious risk to any woman with whom you happen to be in a relationship."

Read more from Sky News:
NHS probes 'sex video' claims at children's hospital
Two men found guilty of murdering footballer at nightclub

Gordon denied any wrongdoing during a trial but was found guilty of a number of charges and was sentenced on Monday.

'You continue to blame your victims'

Lord Braid said he had shown "no insight" into his offending behaviour, adding: "You continue to blame your victims for 'pressing your buttons', refusing to take responsibility for your own actions.

"You have shown no real remorse."

Gordon was handed a 16-year extended sentence, with 12 years in jail and four years on licence once released back into the community.

He was also placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and banned from contacting his victims.

Defence counsel Gary Allan KC said his client continued to maintain the position that he adopted at trial but did "have room for vast improvement in his lifestyle choices".

Lord Braid responded: "I hope that you will take the opportunities this sentence will give you to address the issues which have contributed to your offending, as Mr Allan has said you will do."

Following the court case, Detective Inspector Gordon Patullo said: "Callum Gordon is a very dangerous individual and today he is facing the consequences of his despicable behaviour.

"The testimony of the three victims was absolutely crucial to unravelling his crimes and building such a compelling case against him and I hope they will now feel a sense of closure and be able to move on with their lives."