COLIN MACDONALD: HORRIFIC SEX OFFENDER FROM FORT WILLIAM, INVERNESS, OBAN, AND PERTH FOUND DEAD IN PERTH

In a tragic development, Colin MacDonald, a man with a long history of sexual offenses spanning several decades, was discovered dead in Perth. MacDonald, aged 48, had been the subject of a nationwide manhunt after he was reported missing last week. His body was recovered over the weekend from Kinnoull Hill, a prominent location in Perth, prompting a somber response from local authorities and his family, who have been informed of his death.

MacDonald's criminal history is deeply disturbing and dates back to his early adolescence. He first began offending at the age of 11, targeting a young girl at an address in Fort William. Over the course of six years, he repeatedly raped and sexually abused this victim, who was only ten years old at the time. The High Court in Edinburgh heard detailed accounts of his crimes, which also included the sexual assault of a nine-year-old girl between 1981 and 1983 at an address in Fort William.

His offending extended beyond Fort William, with reports indicating that between August 1988 and August 1991, MacDonald repeatedly abused another young girl in the Oban area. These crimes, spanning over a decade, only came to light after his victims found the courage to report their experiences to the police, leading to his eventual arrest and prosecution.

In October 2014, MacDonald, then 45, was convicted of multiple sexual assault charges. He was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of abusing three children over a period of ten years. During the trial, MacDonald, who resided at Potterhill Gardens in Perth, maintained his innocence, claiming that his victims had fabricated their stories. He told the prosecution lawyer, John Scullion, that he was