Rapist jailed for bondage attacks on three women in Fife

Ruairi Murphy, 29, claimed he was "experimenting" with his sexuality when he assaulted his victims.

A rapist who tied up and inflicted sadomasochistic attacks on three women has been jailed for six years.

Web developer Ruairi Murphy, 29, claimed he was "experimenting" with his sexuality when he assaulted the women in Fife between 2009 and 2018.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how his victims, two aged 28 and one aged 22, were physically and verbally abused. He ignored their pleas to stop.

Murphy will be supervised for three years following his release.

Sentencing him, Judge Lady Wise said: "The woman have been left with low self-esteem, anxiety and fear. Your behaviour will have a lasting impact on all of them.

"You also continue to express an interest in bondage and sadomasochism which contributes to the assessment of risk in this case."

She said the six year sentence was to "to protect the public, in particular young women".

Murphy, of Dunfermline, Fife, was convicted following a four-day trial in May.

One woman told prosecutor Mark Mohammed how Murphy raped her at a house in Dunfermline in May 2015.

The 28-year-old said: "He tied me up to the bed using his shoe strings.

"I didn't want to do it at first because I am not into that type of thing but that's what he wanted to do."

Punched and slapped

The court heard that she was forced to endure a series of acts involving clamps and sex toys.

Mr Mohammed asked : "Did you want him to do that?"

The woman replied: "No. I asked him to stop but he just kept going."

Another of Murphy's victims told of how she was "quite fearful" of him.

The 28-year-old said she was unable to stop him from assaulting her while they were in bed watching television.

She said: "I was tightly tied up. I couldn't do anything."

Murphy's third victim, aged 22, told the court how he intimidated her by calling her a "slut" and that he punched and slapped her.

She said: "He then wanted to have sex and I said I didn't want to it. Eventually I gave in and did it."

Murphy was arrested after police learned of his activities and gathered enough evidence to bring him to court.

His defence advocate Ronnie Renucci said he still denied any wrongdoing and claimed the sex was consensual.

Murphy said they were "experimenting" and insisted he would "never be physically aggressive towards a female".

Lady Wise also placed Murphy on the sex offenders' register for life.