A sex offender who committed a catalogue of crimes against women over two decades has been jailed for 20 years.

Allan Johnstone, 50, was convicted of raping, abducting and seriously assaulting his victims over the period from 1983 to 2004.

Johnstone, from Brechin, Angus, was found guilty at Perth Sheriff Court of 25 charges committed against six women.

He was also convicted of kicking a four-year-old boy, the Crown Office said.

At the High Court in Glasgow today, Johnstone was sentenced to 20 years in jail plus a 10-year extended sentence - the maximum supervision period a court can impose if it believes the offender poses a risk to the public after release.

Johnstone was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Andy Shanks, procurator fiscal for the High Court in the north of Scotland, said: "Allan Johnstone was convicted of a catalogue of serious, violent and sexual offences after the jury accepted the evidence of witnesses who described how they suffered at his hands over a 20-year period.

"Where victims of sexual crimes, whenever they were committed, come forward and report them they will be treated with professionalism and sensitivity by the police and our expert prosecutors and we will do all in our power to deliver justice."