A MAN has been convicted of beating up and raping the women in his life in a series of relationships spanning 15-years.

A jury took just over two hours on Wednesday to return unanimous verdicts finding Robert Dewar guilty of five rapes and four assaults on women to the danger of their life.

Dewar, (48), who lived in Lochgelly and Kinross, was also found guilty of assaulting an ex-partner in Ballingry by pulling her to the ground by her hair and threatening to take her two sons from her.

He originally denied a total of 14 charges but was cleared of sexual assault, assault and breach of the peace, during the eight-day trial at The High Court in Livingston.

The jury heard evidence that the vicious attacks started in February 1998 and continued through years of relationships Dewar had with five different women. The jury was told that a common theme ran through the offences.

Dewar abused his victims by spitting on them, calling them derogatory names and throttling them. None of the women can be named for legal reasons.

One of his partners told how Dewar violently raped her on four separate occasions after he had been drinking. The first time he smashed her head off a bathroom sink, scarring her for life, and hurled abuse at her before the sexual assault.

The second time he attacked her on Christmas Day while she was holding her six week-old baby. She said he lashed her on the body with a belt before throwing her onto a bed and raping her.

On another occasion the woman said he forced her to the ground and put his hand over her mouth before ripping off her clothing and raping her.

In her final rape ordeal at his hands he compressed her throat to the danger of her life and had sex with her after she fell unconscious.

The domestic violence continued with other women with whom Dewar became involved. He threatened to set one of them on fire, painted nail varnish on her face and bit her on the face and lip before compressing her throat and restricting her breathing to the danger of her life.

He raped the same woman in 2003 after threatening to remove a young boy from her care if she refused to have sex with him.

Dewar threatened to set fire to a third partner after pouring alcohol on the ground and threatening to ignite it then grabbed her by the throat and strangled her.

He followed the same pattern with a fourth woman, threatening to set fire to her and her mother, pushing her down a flight of stairs, pushing her onto a couch and throttling her.

Advocate depute, David Young, said one witness had accurately summed up Dewar’s life as “drunk, violent disorder from start to finish”.

The abuse only came to light after a witness not involved in the case reported an alleged assault by Dewar. As part of their inquiries, cops interviewed women with whom they found he’d had a relationship.

Judge Lord Bannatyne called for background reports with a view to imposing an extended sentence. Dewar’s name was added to the Sex Offenders Register and he will be sentenced later.