A FORMER policeman who raped two women has been jailed for six years as it emerged one of his victims was heavily pregnant.

The woman who was attacked by Stephen Cooperwhite was expecting a child and had a medical condition which meant sex could seriously harm her or her unborn child.

Jailing Cooperwhite at the High Court in Glasgow judge John Beckett, QC, told him: "You raped one of your victims when she was more than six months pregnant.

"She was told any intercourse could affect her and her unborn child. You knew that and proceeded to rape her anyway."

Cooperwhite, 35, who was an officer with Central Scotland Police, beat up and bullied his first victim for years before the attack which put her and her unborn child in danger.

His second victim was a trainee police officer he worked with. She said that on two occasions she was raped by Cooperwhite.

The woman said she told him no, but he refused to listen.

Cooperwhite, who continued to deny raping either women, forced them to give evidence in court.

The jury believed his victims' accounts of their ordeals at the hands of Cooperwhite, which dated back to 2002.

His first victim met Cooperwhite when she was 18 and was assaulted by him until he raped her in 2002.

He was working as a flower delivery man in Benbecula, in the Outer Hebrides, and did not join the police until after they split. She gave evidence of her ordeal to a lawyer but was too scared to press charges until the second victim came forward in 2010.

He targeted the trainee officer when she was a colleague at Central Scotland Police, repeatedly attacking her at a house in Stirlingshire.

She eventually mustered the courage to tell her bosses and a probe in 2010 led detectives to find out about the first victim.

His second victim told the High Court in Edinburgh during the trial : "I was depressed. I was very emotional. I confided in colleagues about what happened."

Cooperwhite, from Paisley, quit his job as a constable last year.

Judge Beckett told Cooperwhite: "You have been convicted of raping two different women. You have a very limited criminal record, a good record of employment and public service you latterly had."

The judge said that there was no suggestion that any significant violence was involved.

Defence counsel Thomas Ross asked for Cooperwhite's sentence to be restricted because of his previous good character. He said Coopwerwhite's main concern was not for himself, but the consequences for his parents who have been very supportive.

He said: "There have been issues for him regarding his personal safety. It has a long term effect on him and his mental health. He is in the depths of despair as the result of these circumstances.

"It is his intention to put this behind him on his release and live a law-abiding life in future."