A man has been jailed after being found guilty of a catalogue of sexual offences, including raping his victim while she slept.

Alan Lindsay, 47, subjected his victim to a sustained period of abuse, raping and assaulting her on various occasions at bedsits and flats in Edinburgh and West Lothian.

Speaking in court, the woman spoke of how Mr Lindsay had subjected her to verbal abuse during the assaults and described one sex act he performed on her as “horrible”.

The court heard how Mr Lindsay also molested a girl as young as seven years old at a house in West Lothian, pinning her against a wall after lifting her by the throat at the address.

A third girl was also pushed to the floor and held down by Mr Lindsay’s knee as he threatened to punch her.

A defence bid to continue his bail ahead of sentencing next month was rejected by the trial judge, Lord Armstrong, who remanded him in custody.

The judge told Mr Lindsay, of Gilmerton Dykes Road, Edinburgh, that the gravity of the rape charge brought against prevented him from considering bail.

Mr Lindsay was placed on the sex offenders register following the jury's verdicts. He is due to be sentenced next month at the High Court in Aberdeen.