A former butcher who committed a decade-long campaign of violence and cruelty towards women, children and animals has been jailed for 12 years.

Malcolm Leask raped two women and tried to murder one of the victims by holding her head under water.

Leask, nicknamed Beefy because he previously weighed 31 stone, used his weight to pin down one of his rape victims.

The 35-year-old denied 19 charges but was convicted following a trial.

Judge Lord Scott told him: “Taken together they reflect a serious, violent and abusive course of conduct.”

The judge said that he would sentence him on the basis that he was “unrepentant” and lacking in insight into the considerable damage he caused.

Leask will be supervised for a further eight years following his release from prison.

Leask, formerly of Stromness in Orkney, was previously convicted of six assault offences, six of rape, one of attempted murder, two of threatening or abusive behaviour, breach of the peace and three of animal cruelty.

The crimes were committed at addresses in Orkney and Clackmannanshire between 2008 and 2019.

One woman told the court that she was repeatedly raped by Leask and subjected to physical violence when he punched, kneed and choked her.

He also lifted her toddler daughter and threw her on to a chair and punched, kicked and choked the family Labrador.

A second woman said she was subjected to “pure nastiness” by Leask.

He had shouted and swore at her young daughter and chased and grabbed her son as well viciously punching and kicking her border collie and attacking a German shepherd puppy.

Lord Scott told Leask, who followed the sentencing proceedings via video link from jail, that he would be placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.