A jury at the High Court in Perth yesterday found Allan Johnstone, 50, guilty of raping six women during a “degrading and humiliating” catalogue of abuse. Johnstone was found guilty of 26 out of the 27 charges he faced and was warned by the judge, Lord Bannatyne, that he could be made the subject of a discretionary life sentence. Lord Bannatyne thanked the jury for their “careful consideration” and said it had been a “most distressing and disturbing case” to listen to. The court was told that Johnstone was a violent sexual bully who “got off” on humiliating his victims and forcing them to carry out depraved acts. He beat one woman with a poker because she took too long to make him a bacon sandwich, and attacked another when she didn’t put enough sugar in his tea. CONNECT WITH THE SCOTSMAN • Subscribe to our daily newsletter (requires registration) and get the latest news, sport and business headlines delivered to your inbox every morning • You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google + Johnstone, who had denied the charges, locked one victim in a porch and forced her to lap milk from a dog’s bowl, while another was ordered to lick up the contents of an ashtray. The jury was told that Johnstone had also tortured pets, including strangling a hamster, hurling a spaniel against a television set and trying to flush a cat down the toilet. Advocate depute Shanti Maguire said Johnstone’s behaviour had been terrifying. He had told one woman: “I have always wanted to know how it feels to hear a woman squeal when she dies.” Ms Maguire said: “One woman was smashed across the face with the back of his hand because there wasn’t enough sugar in his tea. “She got a thumping because a practical joke was played on him. He would look at the clock, in a sinister way, and say that at a certain time she would be assaulted. “She told you [the jury] there were times in her life when she wanted to die. He told her he would kill her family. He would say, ‘Tell me you love me’ – a phrase he used while subjecting women to violence and degrading treatment. “He seemed to get off on violence before sex. He has forced women to carry out the most degrading acts and they have done it because they are frightened of him.” She said he had “utterly humiliated” one victim by locking her in a porch and forcing her to eat from a dog’s bowl, before freeing her and laughing in her face. He forced one victim to dress in another woman’s basque and tights before raping her. Ms Maguire said that Johnstone often repeated certain behaviour, including throwing his victims out into the street either naked or semi-clad after raping them. She said his victims were terrified of him and had suffered “systematic trauma” as a result of his domineering and sexually abusive behaviour. The jury found Johnstone guilty of eight charges of rape against six women in the Dundee and Forfar area between 1984 and 2004. He was also found guilty of forcing one victim to tape record herself speaking about previous sexual abuse, and of attacking another with a coat hanger. He was also found guilty of attacking a four-year-old boy and kicking him, and of making false allegations to the police about a woman sexually assaulting her child. He showed no emotion as the jury returned its verdicts. Lord Bannatyne deferred sentence to 28 November, saying he was considering a life-long restriction order or a discretionary life sentence. SCOTSMAN TABLET AND IPHONE APPS • Download your free 30-day trial for our iPad, Android Android and Kindle apps • Keep up to date with all aspects of Scottish life with The Scotsman iPhone app, completely free to download and use • Leaders: Lord Smith must perform a balancing act • Tom Peterkin: Labour reeling from recent departures • Bill Jamieson: Edinburgh-Glasgow vision resurrected