'Barbaric' rapist: Donald Jeffrey has been jailed for life after being found guilty of carrying out a series of rapes, brutal beatings and sexual assaults on two former partners over a period of more than 20 years

A 'barbaric' rapist who forced one of his victims to smile in a mirror after pulling her teeth out with a pair of pliers has been jailed for life.

Donald Jeffrey carried out a series of rapes, brutal beatings and sexual assaults on two former partners over a period of more than 20 years.

The 45-year-old, who assaulted one of his victims while she was pregnant, shook his head in disbelief as he was told he would serve a minimum of ten years behind bars.

He denied he had done anything wrong but was convicted of 13 charges - five rapes, six assaults, an attempted murder and a sexual assault - by a jury.

The offences took place in Maryhill, Cranhill, Summerston and Ruchill, in Glasgow, between January 1994 and June last year.

Jeffrey's last offence against the women, which took place at a flat in Cranhill between June 14 and 17 last year, was the most sadistic he carried out in his 20-year domestic abuse crime spree.

He tortured his second victim by pulling her teeth out, trying to drown her, beating her with a hammer and dumbbells and trying to strangle her.

Jeffrey forced the woman to look at a mirror and smile and made abusive comments about her looks.

He then struck her over and over again on the head and body with a hammer, forced her to fill a bath and repeatedly pushed her head under the water so she was unable to breathe.

Jeffrey also jumped on top of her in the bath, pushed her head and body under water in a bid to drown her, urinated on her and repeatedly spat on her face.

In an earlier incident he threatened to pull out her teeth with pliers, lifted her up and carried her towards an open window - placing her in a state of fear and alarm for her life - before suddenly stopping and throwing her to the floor, the court heard.

On various occasions over a six-year period up to June 2014, he repeatedly subjected the woman to violent attacks, trying to strangle her until she lost consciousness, striking her repeatedly on the body with a wooden baton and putting her life at risk by repeatedly dropping a dumbbell on her head and body.

He was convicted of repeatedly striking her on the head with a knife and a mobile phone, injuring her severely and permanently disfiguring her, over several days between October 2009 and October 2011.

Jeffrey was also found guilty of committing five further offences against another woman between January 1994 and December 1998, assaults, assault, serious assault, sexual assault and rape.

The offences took place in Maryhill, Cranhill, Summerston and Ruchill, in Glasgow, between January 1994 and June last year. Jeffrey was found guilty of 13 charges and jailed for life at the High Court in Paisley (pictured)

He repeatedly kicked in the window of that victim's car while she was driving, and then pulled the steering wheel towards him, leaving her struggling to keep control of the vehicle.

Jeffrey was found guilty of stabbing the woman on the head with a fork and pressing a gun or imitation firearm against her head between 1994 and 1998.

The grievous bodily harm incident involved him battering her repeatedly on the head and body with a wooden stick while she was pregnant.

Jeffrey, who has previously served time in prison for firearms offences, appeared at the High Court in Paisley today to learn his fate.

After solicitor advocate John Scott told Judge Lord Matthews that Jeffrey continued to deny his guilt, the judge gave him a life sentence and slammed him for his conduct.

It is obvious that you are a very dangerous man and it is my duty to protect the public from you for as long as you are able to lift a finger Judge Lord Matthews

As he told him he would have to spend a period of ten years behind bars before being eligible to apply for parole, the judge said: 'You were found guilty of a catalogue of appalling offences against two vulnerable women who had the misfortune to be your partners.

'The relationships were characterised by jealousy, serious violence and rape.

'You dominated the lives of these women and subjected them to extreme emotional and physical cruelty as well as sexual aggression.'

He described the pulling out of the woman's teeth as 'particularly barbaric' and added: 'It is obvious that you are a very dangerous man and it is my duty to protect the public from you for as long as you are able to lift a finger.

'I propose, therefore, to make an Order for Lifelong Restriction.

'If and when you are ever released will be a matter for the Parole Board but they will doubtless look at your case with particular caution.'

Lord Matthews said that, had he not been making an Order for Lifelong Restriction, he would have jailed Jeffrey for 24 years.

He explained: 'I have to deduct that portion of the sentence which would represent the element of public protection, rather than punishment, and I assess that at four years.

'That leaves a period of 20 years, which I am required to halve, resulting in a period of ten years.'