Violent rapist who threatened pregnant victim with knife and tried to smother woman with pillow jailed

A serial rapist who subjected his victims to violence and controlling abuse has been jailed for 11 years.

Owen Orr, 24, raped four women and subjected two of his victims to multiple sex attacks. He also physically attacked a fifth woman.

Orr began his abuse of females when he was aged 17 and began committing rape when he was 20 years old.

A judge told Him at the High Court in Edinburgh: “Your offending was an appalling catalogue of sexual violence and abusive behaviour.”

Lord Doherty said a background report prepared on Orr indicated that he continued to deny responsibility for the offences and added: “You have expressed no remorse.”

The judge said victims had suffered lasting consequences as a result of Orr’s crimes.

Lord Doherty said: “You were not a fully mature adult when these offences were committed but you were an adult, aged 20 to 22, when the most serious were committed.”

He ordered that Orr should be under supervision in the community for a further four years after his jail term, when he will be under licence and can be returned to jail if he breaches its conditions.

Orr, a prisoner, began his abusive crime spree in 2018 in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, when he targeted a victim for violence.

He threw a can at her which hit her on the body, punched her in the face, grabbed her by the hair and arms and seized her head and struck it against a door frame.

Between September 2019 and December the following year at addresses in Midlothian, he subjected a second woman for abuse when he repeatedly shouted and swore at her and made abusive comments and derogatory remarks.

He deprived her of her mobile phone and isolated her from family and friends, placed her in a headlock and banged her head against a wall.

On one occasion he put his hand over the nose and mouth of the pregnant victim, restricting her breathing and on another occasion he followed her and tried to drag her into a field claiming he had a knife.

Orr also raped her when she was pregnant after taking her phone from her on October 31 in 2020.

Between August and November the following year Orr subjected another woman to a course of abusive behaviour.

During it he shouted and swore at her at locations in Hawick and Midlothian and threatened her with violence. Orr also threatened to kill her cat and a dog and kicked the canine. He also twice subjected her to violent rapes at a house in Hawick after struggling with her.

He went on to subject a further woman to repeated rapes in 2022 in Melrose, in the Scottish Borders and subjected her to abusive behaviour during which he repeatedly kicked her and on one occasion put a pillow over her head, restricting her breathing, and threatened to kill her.

He also abused and repeatedly raped another woman in August 2022 at an address in Penicuik, in Midlothian.

Orr had been freed under six separate bail orders made at Edinburgh, Jedburgh and Selkirk sheriff courts at time of the latter offending.

Defence counsel Sarah Loosemore said Orr does not have a record of previous convictions and faced “some difficulties” in his life.

Orr was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely. Lord Doherty made non harassment orders prohibiting him contacting or attempting to contact his victims.