Bridge of Allan man goes on trial accused of raping five women across Scotland

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Bridge of Allan man has gone on trial accused of raping five women, one while she was still a child, and sexually assaulting a sixth woman, as well as several charges of stalking.Lewis Grant, 28, is said to have carried out the crimes, from southern Scotland to Stirling, over a nine year period, allegedly beginning in a park in Dumfries in 2011 when he was 16 and his alleged victim a child of just 15.Two of the adult women allegedly raped are said to have had their lives endangered by Grant – one, allegedly, by having a skipping rope tightened round her neck during an alleged incident in Stirling University accommodation.According to the rape charge, Grant also restrained her, covered her face with an item of clothing, and “poured alcohol over her face whereby her breathing was restricted”.He is said to have assaulted and endangered her life on other occasions – burning her on the body with a blowtorch, striking her on the breasts and body with a riding crop, rendering her unconscious by tightening a belt round her neck, and squeezing and twisting her nipples, all to her severe injury.These alleged attacks are said to have taken place in University of Stirling accommodation in Bridge of Allan, and at an address in the town.Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.Grant is alleged to have raped another woman in the accommodation, throwing her against a headboard after she withdrew her consent following what began as consensual sex.Another woman is said to have been raped by Grant in various locations including Dumfries, Glasgow, Falkirk, and Musselburgh.He is also accused of stalking a woman at addresses in Stirling’s Riverside, before allegedly assaulting her to the danger of her life, detaining her in