DEPRAVED sex beast Thomas Laird is today facing 10 years behind bars after raping three women.

The 39-year-old carried out the catalogue of abuse over an 18-year period at properties in Glasgow, Dunbartonshire and Lanarkshire.

He was also sentenced to a lifelong restriction order.

Detective Chief Inspector Samantha McCluskey, from the Domestic Abuse Taskforce, paid tribute to his victims' bravery.

She said: "Today represents the culmination of a lengthy investigation, which was greatly assisted by Laird's previous partners, who all had received regular, systematic violent abuse from him.

"Not all of these incidents had been reported to police, and no doubt Laird thought he could continue to evade prosecution.

"It is thanks to the bravery of his victims that we were able to catalogue his violent history, and ultimately, bring him to justice."

One woman told the High Court in Glasgow that Laird had groomed her sister from the age of 11.

She sobbed as she told how the supermarket worker had produced a knife and threatened to rape her after she found out her sister was pregnant by him.

Laird was brought to justice after one of his victims contacted the police domestic abuse taskforce.

Ms McCluskey added: "May I take this opportunity to remind people that domestic abuse is not acceptable, and will not be tolerated by Police Scotland.

"We will continue with our efforts to trace perpetrators of this type of crime, and we remain focused on targeting these repeat and serial offenders across the country."