A man who raped and sexually assaulted children while he was a pupil at a blind school may never be freed from prison.

From the age of 12, David Penman attacked eight fellow pupils at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh in the 1980s and 1990s.

He went on to commit further sexual assaults later in his life, in one case attacking a disabled neighbour in her home.

The 43-year-old has now been handed an order for lifelong restriction at the High Court in Edinburgh, after being found guilty last year of 11 sexual offences at the blind school.

The sentence means Penman will be jailed for at least four years and will only be released when the parole board deems him safe to return to society.

Handing down the sentence on Thursday, Lord Uist said Penman was "an evil and dangerous man" who had a "deeply ingrained propensity for sexual violence."

Penman's offences at the blind school related to six girls and two boys, who were aged between 12 and 16.

All of his victims were blind or partially sighted, as he is.

In June 1999, Penman attacked a disabled neighbour in Inverness after entering her house without permission and forcing her on to a bed.

In October the same year, he raped an 18-year-old woman after holding a knife to her throat. He was later jailed for at least ten years for the offences, but returned to prison in 2008 after breaching the terms of his licence.

He has spent 16 of the last 18 years of his life in prison.

Issuing the sentence, Lord Uist said: "Your convictions for the offences committed between 1987 and 1991 and your subsequent convictions in 1993 and 2000 demonstrate, to my mind, that from a young age you have had a deeply ingrained propensity for sexual violence, which has endured into your adult life."

He continued: "You are cunning, deceitful and manipulative.

"You have a narcissistic personality disorder and traits of both avoidant and paranoid personality disorders.

"You engage in fantasies involving deviant sexual violence."

He continued: "During your time in prison you have engaged in a considerable amount of offence-specific work and I am told that you would not benefit from any further work of this nature.

"You have previously struggled with supervision in the community and require long-term, multi-disciplinary supervision after your release because of the potential for problems arising with you.

"I am in no doubt that you are an evil and dangerous man and that the risk criteria are met in your case."