Rapist Martin Scougal receives further six-year jail term
A rapist already serving a sentence for sex offences has been jailed for a further six years for attacks on underage girls in the Borders.
Martin Scougal, 22, was detained for four-and-a-half years in 2012 for raping a nine-year-old.
He stood trial again at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this year for further offences which began in 2010.
He was found guilty of nine charges of sexual misconduct towards two girls, including five charges of rape.
Scougal raped one girl when she was aged 13 in Berwickshire and a 14-year-old at a house in Peebles.
He was also convicted of threatening both victims. He told one of the girls he would kill her and the other that he would rape her.
Lady Wolffe told him that with the first girl he had behaved in "a calculated and predatory manner" and subjected her to "a variety of forms of sexual abuse".
The judge said the impact of his offences on the girl had been "devastating" and she had suffered depression and panic attacks.
"When she became unavailable to you, you proceeded to identify and avail yourself of your second victim," the judge said.
Lady Wolffe said the second victim had been "equally young and vulnerable".
Scougal, an ex-fish process worker, formerly of Ayton, in Berwickshire, committed most of his latest offending after being freed on bail at Duns Sheriff Court in 2010.
Lady Wolffe said she noted that a background report had assessed him as posing a high risk.
She told Scougal that there was no appropriate alternative to a custodial sentence.
During his trial he admitted two charges of breaching a special bail condition that banned him having unsupervised contact with children under 16.
He was jailed for a further nine months for the offences.
The judge also ordered that he should be placed under supervision for a further three-and-a-half years.
Defence solicitor advocate David Allan said the offences were very serious and a prison sentence was inevitable.
He said that Scougal had taken part in a sex offender treatment programme during his time in custody.
"What he has asked me to say is he is committed to reduce the risk of him behaving in this way again," he told the court.
"He appreciates this type of behaviour must stop and cannot be repeated," he said.
Scougal was placed on the sex offenders' register.