Edinburgh court: Violent doorman who carried out shocking abuse against six women over three decades is jailed

Colin Bell, of Woodstock Road, Galashiels, targeted all his victims while in a relationship with them at various address in the Borders town between November 1996 and February last year.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the abuse committed by Bell against the women included smashing one victim’s head off the side of a freezer so hard that the appliance was left dented.

The brute accused the woman of having affairs and on one occasion he forcibly pulled her underwear down to check she had not been engaged in sexual activity with other men.

Bell also attempted to isolate the woman from her friends, barricaded her into a house to prevent her leaving, and a separate incident saw him grab hold of the steering wheel of a vehicle she was diving while a child was inside the car.

The 49-year-old also strangled the woman, dragged her through a house and caused her to fall down a set of stairs, all to her injury and danger of life.

He assaulted a second woman by grabbing her by the hair, striking her to the head, biting her on the finger and forcing her from a property while she was in the latter stages of a pregnancy.

The Borders doorman was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, October 7.

The court also heard Bell spat in one woman’s face, poured liquid over her head and threw her out of a nightclub he was working at as door security and into the ground outside to her injury.

A fourth victim was pushed onto a staircase where he “attempted to initiate sexual intercourse” with her, repeatedly accused her of cheating on him and attempted to control her life.

A fifth woman was also abused by Bell when he threatened to have her sacked from her job and he repeatedly accused her of infidelity throughout the couple’s relationship. The violent abuser also threatened to disclose her financial affairs on social media, demanded cash from her and attempted to keep her locked in a cellar of the nightclub he worked at in Galashiels.

The court also heard details of how the thug forced the terrified woman to have a contraceptive coil removed and made repeated requests to her to have a child with him. Bell then made false claims the women had driven a car at him.

Bell also threatened his victims he would commit suicide in a bid to keep them in the relationships and claimed to one partner it would be her fault if he carried the act out.

Bell pleaded guilty to 10 charges of indecent assault and domestic abuse and had not guilty pleas accepted by the Crown to seven further offences shortly before a trial was due to commence at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in September.

He was remanded in custody and appeared back in the dock at the capital court for sentencing on Monday, October 7.

Sheriff Julius Komorowski told Bell had carried out “grave violence” and “sustained abuse over decades” against all the women and sentenced him to a total of 54 months in custody backdated to September 26.

The sheriff also placed Bell on the sex offenders register for 10 years and issued him with non-harassment orders banning him from having any contact with his six victims for life.