Alleged rapist goes on trial accused of abusing five females and two males over 12-year-period

An alleged rapist has gone on trial accused of abusing seven different people over a 12-year period.

James Cunliffe denies preying on five females and two males between 2010 and 2022.

He is accused of rape, sexual assault, assault to injury and spitting in childrens' faces.

The 37-year-old faces 22 charges and went on trial at the High Court in Kilmarnock yesterday, Wednesday, January 21, 2026.

He is alleged to have targeted a boy between July 2010 and November 2020.

It's claimed the abuse took place at an address in Lockerbie and four different addresses in Dumfries, when the youngster was aged between two and 13.

Prosecutors claim Cunliffe, of Dumfries, repeatedly grabbed the boy, pushed and pulled him, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against a wall.

He is also said to have dragged the boy, who is now 18, struck him on the buttocks and body, pushed him onto a bed and pushed his head against a wall, leaving him injured.

He is also accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive way towards the boy by shouting, swearing, threatening him with violence and damaging his possessions.

Between October 2010 and March 2021 he allegedly terrorised a woman, making offensive and abusive remarks towards her, threatening her and her children with violence and spitting in her kids' faces.

He denies destroying household devices, electronic devices, toys, kitchen units and a shed, alienating her from her friends and family and controlling other aspects of her life.

He is also accused of repeatedly raping her in her sleep between 2013 and 2017, and repeatedly raping her between 2017 and 2020, and he is also accused of regularly sexually assaulting her between the same dates.

Prosecutors also claim that he intentionally exposed himself to the woman and performed a sex act on himself in front of her without her consent.

And he is accused of taking images of an unerage girl, who also can't be named for legal reasons, "in a state of undress".

The indictment states he also exposed himself to that girl and assaulted her to her injury.

The twelfth charge he faces states he behaved in a threatening or abusive way towards the girl, who is now 25, and faces a charge of taking intimate pictures of her when she was over 16.

He denies regularly performing sex acts on himself in front of the girl, and making sexual remarks towards her.

He is also accused of assaulting a boy when the youngster was aged three, and another girl when she was aged between seven and nine.

Between 2020 and 2022 he denies abusing another woman, and he is also accused of raping her while she slept.

He is also said to have sexually assaulted that woman between 2020 and 2022, and repeatedly raped her in 2022.

The final charge he faces is one of assaulting another woman, by pushing her and trying to punch her on the head in 2021.

Cunliffe maintains his innocence and the trial, before Judge Andrew Cubie, is expected to last until next week.