A SERIAL domestic abuser who carried out a campaign of violence on his ex partners - including assaulting a former girlfriend in Rosneath - has been jailed for nine years.

Fraser Smith, 22, of Lochgilphead, was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, July 4, for a catalogue of serious sexual and violent offences against three partners which occurred between 2012 and 2017.

A judge told Smith that his offending was "cruel and callous and depraved".

Judge Gordon Liddle QC said that Smith had exploited and abused his first underage victim before moving on to another woman who was subjected to violence and rape.

The judge said: "What is clear in relation to both of them is that you had no respect for them whatsoever and treated them as objects to be used, at best."

The Advertiser revealed last month that Smith has a string of previous convictions in the Helensburgh and Lomond area stretching back six years.

READ MORE: Serial domestic abuser guilty of five-year reign of terror

His criminal past includes the theft of a £1,000 watch from his mother in Helensburgh in September 2013, when he was aged just 16.

He then went on to behave in a threatening or abusive manner the following year by seizing his father by the collar at their home in West Princes Street, threatening to hit him, and goading his father into assaulting him.

But despite being given what a sheriff described as a “final chance” to carry out a non-custodial punishment, Smith was again spared prison in 2016 after assaulting his then 16-year-old girlfriend by dragging her up the street towards a flat in Rosneath, where he was living at the time.

A hearing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court in November 2016 was told the victim of the attack had screamed “let go of me”, and had eventually managed to escape to a friend’s home nearby after being attacked.

READ MORE: Arrests after 'large scale disturbance' in Helensburgh

At today's sentencing, the judge said that during Smith's testimony he "showed no respect for any" of his victims.

He ordered that Smith be kept under supervision for a further three year period and warned that if he breached the conditions of his licence during that time he could be returned to prison.

Smith was also placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

After today's decision, Detective Inspector Ian Renfrew, from the Police Scotland domestic abuse task force (West), said: "Smith was found guilty of a number of charges including rape and sexual and physical assaults.

"He carried out a campaign of violence on three of his partners over a period of five years which will have no doubt left them affected by the experience for the rest of their lives.

"I must thank these women for having the strength to come forward and report the years of abuse that they have endured and the courage they've shown throughout the investigation.

“I hope that today’s outcome gives the women some sort of closure and sends a clear message to anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to treat anyone in this way.

“Police Scotland is committed to tackling domestic abuse and no one should ever feel they are alone or in a position of fear.

"I would encourage anyone to report domestic abuse in any form as all reports will be thoroughly investigated and we will continue to work with partner agencies to ensure victims of domestic abuse are supported and to ensure their safety and wellbeing."

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