A Leicester man has been jailed for nearly 15 years for rape and controlling or coercive behaviour, after prosecutors challenged his claim he had committed the offences in his sleep.
Dean Final, 32, from Braunstone, admitted he had physically, sexually and emotionally abused two former partners. While living in Leicester, he started a relationship with one of the victims. Within weeks he was controlling her. He regularly stole or hid her phone or keys to restrict her movements, placed cameras around the house to control what she was doing, bombarded her with messages and accused her of cheating on him.
Picture: Dean Final
Matters between them came to a head in February 2024 when the victim challenged his controlling behaviour. Final assaulted the victim late at night, strangling her and saying if he couldn’t have her nobody could. Over the course of the next two nights, with the victim in fear of her life, he forced her into sexual activity despite her saying she did not want to. The victim managed to escape from the home and got the police involved.
When interviewed by the police, the victim made an observation that Final’s eyes were closed while he raped her and that she thought he may have been asleep. CPS prosecutors anticipated that Final could have used this to claim he had been affected by an unusual condition known as ‘sexsomnia’, where perpetrators claim to have committed sex offences in their sleep.
This claim had no merit, so they intervened early, putting forward robust legal argument and instructing an expert in sleep disorders to make sure Final could not use this argument to evade justice. Following legal argument, sexsomnia was excluded from the defence’s case and Final pleaded guilty to the sustained abuse of the victim.
He was sentenced to a total of 11 years and eight months’ imprisonment, extended by three years.
Charlotte Caulton-Scott from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Dean Final has been exposed for what he really is – a violent, manipulative and controlling individual. He is where he belongs now, where he cannot do any more harm to women.
“There was absolutely no merit in claiming he had not been in control because of sexsomnia. Prosecutors recognised immediately that this was just an attempt to shirk responsibility for his violent conduct. We will continue to challenge the myth of sexsomnia because in the vast majority of cases, it is simply not justified.
“The use of physical and sexual violence in a relationship is abhorrent. I am so glad that his victims were able to escape the hold he had on them and receive the protection from the law they deserve.”
Detective Constable Caitlin Duggan, from Leicestershire police, said: “From very early on in this investigation it was apparent that Final wanted to completely control every aspect of the victim’s life.
“She said he’d told her that if he couldn’t have her, no-one could. It’s difficult to comprehend just what must’ve been going through her mind.
“Throughout our enquiries she showed immense bravery in providing information that allowed us to build a case which left him no alternative but to admit what he’d done. Thankfully, this meant she didn’t have to re-live her ordeal in front of a jury.
“I hope today’s outcome provides her with a degree of closure and allows her to move on with her life.”
Dean Final was also sentenced for similar offences committed in a relationship when he lived in Lancashire. This included physical and sexual violence, controlling or coercive behaviour and offences and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, when he turned violent towards his partner’s pet dog.
As well as the prison sentence, Final was issued with a restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order. This prevents him from being alone with a woman or girl without disclosing the facts of this conviction. The exceptions to this are family members or in paid employment.
