Highland rapist who attacked victims in Inverness and Tain could spend the rest of his life in jail

A brutal rapist who throttled women during a campaign of crime that spanned more than three decades has been warned he could face a life sentence.

Bruce Buchanan subjected one woman to rape three times, including during a violent attack where he squeezed her throat and forced his hand into her mouth.

Buchanan (60) also subjected the same victim to verbal abuse and punched and kicked her during attacks at addresses in Inverness, Tain and a small Highland village.

He threatened the woman when he was armed with a knife and sat on her and pressed his thumbs into her eyes during the violence.

Buchanan also grabbed a second woman by the nose and compressed it while threatening her and forced her to the ground at a house in the village.

A third victim was also attacked in the village, during which her arms were pinned behind her back and she was gripped by the throat, restricting her breathing.

Buchanan, formerly of Dalcroy Road, Croy, in the Highland region, earlier denied 13 charges during a trial, but was convicted of seven offences, including two of rape, one of rape and assault to severe injury and danger of life, and four of assault.

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His offending began in June 1986 and continued until June 2017.

The trial judge said that a most troubling aspect of the evidence in the trial was Buchanan's propensity to choke or asphyxiate victims during the violence, one of whom feared she would die.

At the High Court in Edinburgh today Lord Fairley called for a full risk assessment report to be prepared on Buchanan after stating that he was entirely satisfied that the risk criteria were met in his case.

Such a move can lead to the imposition of an Order for Lifelong Restriction on the offender. Under such a sentence the judge fixes a minimum term to be served in jail but it is then left to parole authorities to decide when, if ever, the offemder should be released.

Lord Fairley said he had not come to a decision on a final sentence in the case.

The judge made non harassment orders prohibiting Buchanan from contacting or attempting to contact his victims.

Buchanan attacked his first victim in Inverness between June 1986 and December the following year on several occasions when he shouted and swore, behaved in a threatening way, pinned her to a wall and grabbed her face.

He also subjected the woman to rapes during that period.

Buchanan went on to subject her to further violence on occasions up until 2004 when she was punched, threatened, repeatedly kicked on the body, shaken and gripped by the throat.

In June 2004 he punched her on the head and body, put a pillow over her face and pressed it into her, squeezed her throat, pressed his thumbs into her eyes, grabbed her by the mouth and forced his hand in and removed her clothing and raped her.

He went on to attack his second victim on various occasions between November 2008 and June the following year when the woman was pushed and hit a fireplace, grabbed and forced to the ground and her nose was squeezed as he threatened her.

Buchanan's third victim was attacked between April 2016 and June 2017. She was struck on the head and body, pushed and thrown and seized by the throat.

Sentence was deferred on Buchanan until May 19.