A CARE home worker who raped one dementia sufferer and sexually assaulted two others has been jailed for seven years.

Stephen Murray, 44, raped a 65-year-old woman and abused two other females aged 84 and 74 over a 16-month period at the home where he worked.

At the High Court in Edinburgh , judge Lord Turnbull said a lengthy prison sentence was the only way the court could mark its disgust towards the "truly shocking" abuse which was directed towards a group of deeply vulnerable people.

Murray, of Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, pled guilty to rape and sexual assault charges at a care home in Lanarkhire between December 2010 and April 2012 at a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow last month. Sentence had been deferred until yesterday so the court could obtain reports.

Defence advocate Louise Arrol told the court that Murray, a first offender, suffered from mental health problems and had been diagnosed with a condition called social anxiety disorder.

Lord Turnbull also placed Murray on the sex offenders register.