A serial offender tried to murder a woman with wooden table legs before sending her mother a social media message asking if her daughter was OK because he had not heard from her.

Robert Carr, 39, then sent his victim a Facebook message asking: "Why did you send the police to my door?"

The 20-year-old woman was found by paramedics crouching behind a parked car, covered in blood and shaking badly after fleeing the scene of the attack at her home in Lochgelly, Fife.

She was taken to hospital where head wounds were stitched up and stapled.

Doctors noted rectangular marks on her back and shoulder blades consistent with being hit with a table leg.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard the attempted murder was the culmination of a decade-long campaign of violence and intimidation that Carr, of Elgin Drive, Glenrothes, had inflicted on women.

Another victim said she still did not feel safe and a third told the court she was terrified of Carr and feared he would kill her.

The trial heard Carr fell asleep at the 20-year-old woman's home on Christmas Eve in 2015 after spending the evening drinking.

He had refused to leave the house and snapped the telephone cord, meaning the woman could not contact friends.

When Carr woke on Christmas Day he began insulting the woman and then slapped and punched her before she told him to leave.

Advocate depute Ian Wallace said: "He then picked up a wooden table, turned it upside down and ripped the legs off it.

"He took a table leg in each hand and repeatedly struck her on the head with them."

Carr's victim took advantage of a pause in the assault to flee the flat and passersby alerted emergency services.

Carr, who has previously served 17 sentences of detention and imprisonment, including for assault, admitted attempting to murder the woman in the attack.

He also pled guilty to a further eight assault charges committed between 2003 and 2015 at addresses in Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy, Lochgelly and the former T in the Park campsite at Ballado, Kinross, against women, two of whom were pregnant during some of the incidents.

During the assaults Carr, a father-of-ten, used weapons including a heavy church candle and a gas-powered pellet gun, the trial heard.

Carr had also originally faced charges of raping victims but those allegations were either deleted or his not guilty plea accepted.

Judge Lord Ericht deferred sentence for the preparation of a background report and remanded Carr in custody.