A man who raped two young girls has been branded a "sexual predator" who "ruled with an iron fist".

Owen Hollern's victims were aged 11 and 14 when the abuse started.

The 70-year-old preyed on the girls between 1975 and 1988 in Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire,

He was convicted of four rape charges and lewd and libidinous behaviour at the High Court in Glasgow.

Hollren was jailed for 11 years and added to the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Judge Johanna Johnston QC said his victims were left with "profound and long-lasting damage".

She told Hollern: "You have been convicted of a series of dreadful sexual offences".

Prosecutor Angela Gray told the court Hollern had tried to hide that "he is a sexual predator and rapist" for more than 40 years.

She said: "He has for a significant period in his life abused young females."

Jurors heard his first victim, who was 14 when the abuse started, was "scared" and "did not feel she could say no" to her abuser who "ruled with an iron fist".

The other victim was targeted from around the age of 11.

She described being "groomed" by Hollern and was "frightened of him".

The second girl went to the police in the late 1980s but later retracted the allegations.