A serial sex attacker has been jailed for 12 years for a decade of “barbarity” against three women.
Daniel Esslemont preyed on his terrified victims, including trying to kill one of them.
The crimes occurred between 2011 and 2021 at different addresses in Aberdeen.
The 31-year-old was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.
He had earlier been convicted after a trial in Edinburgh for rape, physical assaults and attempted murder.
Judge Michael O’Grady KC told Esslemont: “You engaged in a course of conduct which was unremittingly cruel and abusive.
“Your behaved at times with something that I can only describe as little short of barbarity.
“There is nothing I can do which will undo the damage and pain that you caused.
“All I can do is bring some sense of closure to these victims, to punish you for the horrendous things you did and provide what limited protection I can for the public in the future.”
Victim recalls being ‘terrified’ of accused
Esslemont will also be supervised for a further four years on his release.
He will also be on the sex offenders list for life.
Esslemont’s first victim described the thug as “normal” before he ended up raping her.
The woman added: “He would tell me that he would murder my family and how he was going to do it. I was terrified.”
The second victim also recalled how she suffered at his violent hands.
She was raped and told to hand over money so he could pay off drug debts.
She told prosecutor Derick Nelson: “He said that if I told police about what happened to me, he would kill me and my family.”
Esslemont went on to try and kill the third woman in 2021.
Esslemont denied the accusations, but said he would punch walls to keep “calm”.
He also insisted choking women was a “kink” he had.
In his closing speech to jurors, Mr Nelson said Esslemont had “absolutely no respect for women”.
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