Former footballer jailed for raping three ex-girlfriends
James Coulter locked up for six years for the catalogue of sexual assaults
A former footballer has been jailed for six years after being convicted of raping three ex-lovers. Ex-Albion Rovers player James Coulter assaulted one victim with his Player of the Year trophy hours after winning it. The 33 year old, now a warehouse manager, had denied the allegations during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. He insisted any sex that occurred was consensual. But, Coulter was instead convicted of a total of nine charges including raping the three women. He had been remanded in custody until today when he was jailed for a total of six years at the High Court in Paisley.
Passing sentence judge John Morris QC told Coulter he had been convicted of a "catalogue of abuse" against women who had "showed nothing but love and affection", including serious sexual offending. The crimes took place between 2009 and 2014. Coulter got to know the first victim when she worked behind the bar at a club in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. But, the woman – who eventually became a teacher – soon fell victim to his violent temper. The jury heard how he would call her abusive names, push her around and spit on her. After he won player of the year for a local junior team, Coulter later lost the plot resulting in the woman being struck with his glass trophy. He went on to rape her ignoring her cries for him to stop. It was also claimed he threatened to publish “indecent images” of her on the web and send them to her family. The woman was said to have been petrified in the case her school found out. Coulter then turned his attention to a second woman. But, her life was also made a misery. The civil servant was regularly assaulted before he went on rape her as well. The court was told the victim desperately gasped for air during the sex attack. Coulter also earlier recorded the woman performing a sex act on him without her knowledge. The court heard that Coulter was a gambling addict who lost a fortune over the years. This victim regularly handed over cash to him unaware she was feeding his habit. She is now in around £30,000 of debt, which she believes will take decades to pay off. A third woman – a nurse - was then preyed upon by Coulter after being wooed at a local nightclub. He eventually raped her at a house in Blantyre in 2014 despite her protests. Coulter was finally snared when the second woman went to police. This sparked a probe by the Domestic Abuse Taskforce. It emerged during the probe Coulter had regularly assaulted a fourth woman between 2001 and 2002. Coulter was convicted of two charges of raping the first woman and a third allegation of assault. He was also found guilty of raping the second woman, a charge of assault and another of recording “a private act” without her knowledge. Coulter was convicted of raping the third woman and also earlier filming her. He was finally convicted of assaulting the other victim. Defence counsel Tony Graham told the court there was little mitigation given his client gave evidence.
He also said Coulter had an "excellent work record".