An island rapist has been convicted of a horrific catalogue of abuse after the victim found footage he had filmed of the sex attacks on his computer.
Marc Ronald, from Skye, shot video and added his own derisive commentary as he carried out the assaults on the woman and stored them on his laptop.
The graphic film was used as crucial evidence against him when a selection of the videos were shown to a jury in a closed courtroom during his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Fishing boat skipper Ronald was found guilty yesterday of carrying out two rapes on the woman and a further three sexual assaults. He filmed himself carrying out four of the sex crimes.
Judge Lord Pentland said: “You stand convicted now by the verdicts of the jury of a series of vile and depraved sexual offences, including two offences of rape, committed against a vulnerable woman.
“You degraded and humiliated her and treated her as a mere object for the purposes of your sexual gratification.”
The judge said the victim deserved great credit for her bravery and determination in seeing Ronald brought to justice.
He added: “It is inevitable I will take an extremely serious view of matters and you will go to prison for many years.”
He deferred sentence on Ronald for the preparation of a background report and remanded him in custody before telling jurors that in view of the harrowing and distressing evidence in the case, he would discharge them from further jury service for 15 years.
The victim told the court that she managed to “hack the password” of Ronald’s laptop – which was the name of his boat.
She said: “There were videos of me on the laptop and I was unconscious in them and I didn’t consent to any of those videos at all.”
Ronald, 44, of Dunvegan, had denied raping and sexually assaulting the woman at an address in Orkney and one near Dingwall, between March 4, 2011, and February 7, 2013, while she was intoxicated, asleep and incapable of giving or withholding consent.
He was placed on the sex offenders register.
