More than 200 police investigations were launched into Scotland’s worst serial domestic abusers in the past year.
In the last two weeks alone five of the violent abusers were sentenced to a total of 61 years in prison after they were snared by the specialist Police Scotland’s Domestic Abuse Task Force.
The thugs were responsible for raping, beating and torturing at least 21 women between them.
The task force, which deals with the most heinous offenders, uses similar investigative techniques deployed in murder cases and traces former partners who can help corroborate cases against offenders.
Detective Chief Superintendent Sam Faulds, Head of Public Protection, Police Scotland, said domestic abuse was a “significant priority” for Police Scotland.
She said: “Our officers are highly trained to respond professionally and effectively.
“Every case is traumatic for the victim. The effects are long lasting for them and their families, and especially so for children. No child should have to witness domestic abuse.”
New figures to be released this week show Police Scotland officers responded to 63,093 calls about domestic abuse last year, 40,221 which resulted in a crime being recorded.
This is a slight drop for the first time in six years, down 1.7 per cent in incidents reported from the previous year with a decrease of around three per cent of those leading to at least one offence being recorded.
But taken on an average over the last five years, 2021 to 2022 saw an increase of 3.7 per cent in incidents and four per cent in crimes recorded.
Police Scotland take a call every nine minutes on average about domestic abuse.
The last year saw a 12 per cent rise in applications using Clare’s Law which lets people find out if their partner or someone else has a history of that type of offending.
And there was a 30 per cent rise in women applying to see if their partner has a history of abuse.
DCS Faulds said: “Preventing domestic abuse is our ultimate aim. A key part of prevention is the disclosure scheme. It has helped thousands make an informed choice about whether to continue or end an abusive relationship.
“Domestic abuse takes many forms, physical and sexual but also psychological, emotional and financial. An abuser’s intent is to control and coerce their victim.”
Locked up
The five domestic abusers were handed a total of 61 years in sentences in the last two months.
Gary Dysart, 40, on April 24 was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment and received a 12-year non-harassment order for numerous sexual offences and assaults against two women in the Forth Valley area.
Christopher James, 39, on May 5 was sentenced to 13 years extended sentence and 15-year non- harrassment order for numerous offences against two women including sexual offences and assault to injury and danger to life.
He raped both of his victims and sexually assaulted one of them with a foreign object.
James throttled the women and put a pillow over the head of one victim and applied pressure during attacks.
William Sproul, 61, on May 6 was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment and received a 20-year Non- harrassment order for numerous sexual offences, assaults and domestic abuse offences against six women including two children over a 30-year period.
Sean Hartley, 35, was sentenced on May 9 to 14 years imprisonment and given a 25-year Non harassment order, for offences committed over a 15-year period against five women in the Highlands and Islands, and Moray areas.
Hartley, from Morayshire, admitted three rapes of three separate women and a series of assaults including an incident in Burghead in 2009 when he pushed a fourth woman onto a cooker, and the domestic abuse of a fifth woman.
His first, and youngest, victim was only 15 when he raped her in Forres in 2005, and Hartley himself was still only 17 at the time.
Nicolas Hain, 41, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and placed on the sex offenders register for a series of violent and sexual domestic offences against six women, between 2006 and 2020 across West Lothian, East Lothian, and Edinburgh.
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