A RAPIST policeman from Melrose was this week sentenced to 12 years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Kevin Storey will also be kept under supervision for a further three years.

And he has been added to the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

The 48-year-old terrorised two women in Galashiels with a series of sex attacks.

And he committed further assaults on another woman and a child.

Storey, formerly of Quarrydene, was convicted of eight charges, including rape, attempted rape, indecent assault and assault, over a 20 year period by a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh last month.

Judge Paul Arthurson this week told the former sergeant that he had a lengthy and honourable record of police service in the Scottish Borders and other parts of Britain.

But he added: “Your appalling crimes render you a disgrace to your former uniform.” Storey had been refused bail after being found guilty of the eight charges in November.

Defence counsel Shelagh McCall said Storey had been a serving police officer for 28 years but resigned following his conviction.

She said he had received five commendations, two relating to river rescues and one to stopping a suicide on a bridge.

Miss McCall said character references had been provided for Storey from members of the public, police support staff and retired officers.

She also revealed that Storey had recently attempted suicide.

“This is not an accused without any insight,” she said.

Storey was found guilty of assaulting his first victim in 1989 at a house in Galashiels.

She was grabbed by the body and pushed out of the house and seized by the neck.

A second woman, now aged 46, was also assaulted at addresses in the town during the 1990s and Storey also tried to rape her.

The victim feared he was “untouchable” and spoke about him being in the Masons and a police officer.

A third woman, now aged 41, was also subjected to abuse and violence which began in the 1990s and also suffered rape and indecent assault.

The court heard that he would throw coins at one victim and flick his boots at her.

During one assault she had ended up against the cooker in a house and blows rained down on her.

The woman was also struck on the foot with a belt and thrown onto a bed and punched and kicked.

Advocate depute Paul Kearney told jurors that the Crown contended that Storey had subjected women to emotional, verbal and physical abuse and that two victims were also sexually abused.

He pointed out that Storey maintained throughout the trial that he never laid a finger on them.

“You can be sure this was not three actresses who came to this court reading from an internal script,” Mr Kearney said.

Storey was also found guilty of assaulting a two-year-old boy by shouting and grabbing him by his upper clothing.

Police Scotland has reiterated its commitment to identifying domestic abusers and bringing them to justice following this week’s sentencing.

Chief Superintendent Gill Imery, Commander of the Lothians and Scottish Borders Division of Police Scotland, where Storey served as a sergeant, said: “The perpetration of these sort of crimes can never be tolerated and it is of even greater shock and disappointment when the offender is a police officer.

“Kevin Storey’s complete contempt and disregard for his victims shows him to be a callous individual whose actions have fallen significantly short of the high standards of professional behaviour we expect as an organisation.

“There is no place for domestic abuse and associated offences within our communities and we will continue to use all resources at our disposal to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

“The public within the Lothians and Scottish Borders Division, and throughout Scotland can rest assured that we will continue to treat all reports of domestic abuse with the utmost seriousness and conduct a through investigation into the matter, regardless of how challenging or sensitive the issue may be.”