Serial rapist and abuser John Walker remanded in custody
A man faces a lengthy jail term after he admitted assaulting and raping four girlfriends over a 20 year period.
John Walker pleaded guilty to carrying out five rape charges and four assaults between 1988 and 2009 in Glasgow and Dunbartonshire.
At the High Court in Glasgow, he was remanded in custody pending sentence.
Temporary judge Bill Dunlop QC said he was considering imposing an order for lifelong restriction for "a horrific catalogue of domestic violence".
The court heard that Walker's first victim, who is now aged 43, was subjected to his violent temper for five years until 1993.
The assaults, some of which took place at properties in Glasgow and Clydebank, saw the woman being kicked and stamped upon.
She was also repeatedly smacked with a wooden pole while pregnant, and on another occasion Walker tried to strangle her.
The court heard Walker then raped the woman shortly after she had been released from a stay in hospital.
The second woman was battered repeatedly after meeting Walker in the late 1990s.
The victim, who is now 31, was pushed into an open coal fire while Walker brandished weapons at her.
Another woman, who is now aged 43, was raped, assaulted and verbally abused on a regular basis after meeting Walker in 2000.
Walker's fourth victim, who is now aged 46, suffered a similar fate for almost a year in 2003.
In 2004, Walker then repeatedly raped a 16-year-old girl, whom he was not in a relationship with.
Prosecutor Kath Harper told the court: "He began to sexually abuse her at her home explaining that he knew her deceased father and that he had promised him he would look after her."
Ms Harper said Walker had sex with the girl daily for a period of up to seven weeks, which the teenager found "unpleasant".
Walker's final victim was a woman he dated for seven months in 2009, when she was aged 21.
The pair lived with each other at a flat in the north of Glasgow until the woman decided to move out.
When she later returned to collect her belongings, Walker raped and assaulted her during a four-day ordeal.
Walker was never reported until a daughter of his first victim decided to go to police last year.
An investigation was then carried out to trace his other partners, and the women gave statements to officers.
Walker was finally detained in March this year.
It emerged in court that he was previously jailed for assault in 2000.
And in 2006, he was placed on probation after being convicted of domestic assault at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Remanding him in custody, judge Dunlop told Walker: "The charges you have pled guilty to are a horrific catalogue of domestic violence over a lengthy period of time.
"They are so grave that I must consider an order for lifelong restriction."