A man has been convicted of carrying out a catalogue of assaults on women and children over a 24-year period.
Colin Gillies had been on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court accused of 20 separate charges including assaulting three women and a child to the danger of their lives.
And yesterday a jury took two hours to convict him of 18 of the violent offences.
He was found guilty of seven assaults to danger of life, nine assault to injury, one assault and one assault to severe injury.
The jury returned a not proven verdict on the two charges.
During the week long trial, the court heard he carried out the offences at various addresses in the north-east.
All of the women were throttled or had their breathing restricted by Gillies as he used pillows or cushions to try to smother them.
One woman told the court she was forced to the floor by the 50-year-old while he placed a pillow over her head.
He also hit her on the head with a broom.
During closing speeches yesterday fiscal depute Stephanie Ross said one of the women had feared for her life on two occasions as Gillies compressed her neck, restricting her breathing.
Another woman was struck to the face with such force that blood spilled into a plate of food.
Sentence on Gillies, of 4 Townhead, Inverbervie, was deferred until May 23 for the preparation of background reports.
When addressing the jury, Sheriff Graham Buchanan said: “This was a very distressing case and I do say some of you may have been a bit shocked by the nature of some of the evidence. All of us were.”
Speaking after court two of the women said they were happy with the verdict and said they were glad justice had been done.
