Prosecutors block 'sexsomnia' defence to see controlling rapist jailed

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.

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 today, Tuesday 5 August, 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.

“The force takes reports of sexual offences, controlling and coercive behaviour and domestic abuse extremely seriously. I also hope this case encourages any other victims of such behaviour to speak out and make a report to police.”

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 the course of paid employment.

Building the case: Challenging sexsomnia as a defence to rape

Final did not initially claim that he was suffering from sexsomnia. When his abuse was reported, there was a clear pattern to his actions that demonstrated controlling or coercive behaviour.

Taking the victim’s phone, restricting who she could see and when, and the constant false accusations that she was being unfaithful to him were all strong evidence of controlling or coercive behaviour. These were compounded by the threats of violence and by making out he was suicidal to manipulate her to comply.

He was charged with two counts of rape for the occasions he forced the victim into sexual activity when she was too terrified of further violence and control to refuse.

During the investigation, the victim stated that he had his eyes closed and may have been asleep. To advance a genuine defence of sexsomnia, or non-insane automatism, the defence must prove to a jury that the defendant was able to act without knowing it and that it was an established condition. For example a defendant might previously have displayed symptoms such as sleepwalking. A medical expert report is required.

In the absence of a report, prosecutors were concerned that Final’s defence might use the cross-examination of the victim to confuse the jury’s deliberations. We made it clear to the defence that we would not let such a claim be made in court without the proper medical evidence.

Prosecutors applied to the court to exclude any suggestion of sexsomnia. We put forward evidence that the defendant had no history of sleep issues before or after the rape and that therefore any sexsomnia would have started and stopped for the attacks on the victim alone. Non-insane automatism is highly unusual, but our expert evidence showed that this was almost impossible.

We also put forward evidence that in one of the rapes, Final had gone into a different room and picked up a sex toy before returning to rape the victim. We argued that these were conscious actions that were not consistent with someone operating in their sleep.

The defence did submit a report to claim non-insane automatism. However, this did not include any medical expert opinion, just the observations made by the victim. The CPS applied to the court to exclude the report from the trial, pointing out that no diagnostic testing had been done on Final. Our expert also stated that experts could not currently agree on what diagnostic testing should look like.

Directly before the judge’s ruling, the defendant decided to change his plea to guilty to rape and controlling or coercive behaviour. It was clear from the prosecution’s case that no judge would rule the defence expert report as admissible.

With no defence of sexsomnia available, the evidence focused on Final’s violent and abusive conduct across the two relationships. He had no option but to plead guilty. During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors made clear to the court that Final presents a danger to women, and and this is reflected in the extended sentence handed down by the court.