DUNDEE TREESURGEON JAILED FOR YEARS OF SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE
A 39-year-old treesurgeon named Mark McLeod has received a prison sentence of 17 years and nine months after being convicted on 15 charges, including rape, assault, abduction, and animal cruelty.The conviction was handed down at the High Court in Edinburgh following a courtroom trial that lasted ten days in May.
McLeod, who hails from Dundee, denied the allegations, claiming his victims, whose identities are protected by legal restrictions, had fabricated their stories and that he was innocent.
However, the jury took only a day to reject his assertions and find him guilty.
His criminal history is extensive, stretching over four pages, with previous sentences for violent offenses.
Evidence presented during the trial revealed that McLeod targeted victims at residences in Dundee and Angus.
His first known victim was only 16 when the abuse began in November 1999, which involved repeated beatings and sexual assaults.
In 2004, he started abusing another woman, aged 22, committing rape and physical violence until June 2005, including an attack where he threatened her with a knife.
Between January 2009 and January 2010, he assaulted a 37-year-old woman in a home in Forfar.
From October 2010 through December 2015, he further assaulted another woman, now 25, in addition to kicking and hitting dogs during that period.
Detective Inspector Muriel Fuller from the Domestic Abuse Task Force welcomed the sentence, describing McLeod as a 'violent and controlling individual' who preyed on victims for nearly two decades.
She emphasized that this conviction underscores Police Scotland’s commitment to thoroughly investigate such crimes and encouraged anyone with relevant information or past experiences of abuse to come forward, regardless of when these events occurred.
