A Fife man has appeared in court and was committed for trial, accused of a string of serious assaults on two women, one of them pregnant, and two children under 16, dating back more than 20 years.
Among the charges faced by Kane McGuire, 37, of Cellardyke, is one of torturing a child aged 10 to 12 on various occasions over a three-year period.
It is alleged he locked the child in a small dark cupboard, forced the child to strip to its underwear, stand in a bath of cold water and, on one occasion, forced its head under the water.
McGuire, who appeared in private before Sheriff Alastair Brown at Dundee Sheriff Court, has also been accused of strangling a pregnant woman and restricting her breathing.
He is further accused of assaulting another woman by attempting to strike her with a knife and throwing a 15-year-old across a room.
He made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody and committed for trial on the 10 charges.
He had previously been committed for trial on another six charges, including offences against four women and throwing a cat against a wall, having previously appeared in connection with them.
It is understood all 16 charges will now be rolled together and the Crown has a year to consider whether to bring him to court on indictment.