A failed Bolton businessman who forced a woman to upload intimate images of herself online has been jailed for 14 years for a campaign of rape and abuse. Dean Holmes, 43, was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of four counts of rape encompassing at least six acts.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court her attacker had 'systematically ruined my life'. She described how she was now a 'mere shell of my former self' because of the sexual attacks and abuse she suffered at Holmes's hands.
Campaign of abuse
The court heard Holmes would call her 'a slag, a slut, a dirty f***ing rat, a tramp' and 'bombarded' her with thousands of abusive messages and voice notes. He forced her to upload intimate pictures of herself online to make money for him. The abuse culminated in a rape while his victim was sobbing, despite her trying to push him away and repeatedly saying 'no'.
In a victim personal statement read out in court, the woman said: "These past ten months have been an absolute torment. Dealing with the trauma of what (he) did to me... was already an unbearable burden. However, having the intimate, painful details of my abuse exposed and read out in open court forced me to relive the terror of every single moment all over again."
'Calculated abuser'
She went on: "The prolonged legal process has taken an immense psychological toll. The successive court hearings leading up to the trial weighed heavily on my mind. Every day was consumed by the agonizing fear that he might be granted bail and come after me, resulting in countless sleepless nights."
The woman said Holmes had 'systematically ruined my life', adding: "He took a strong, independent woman with a thriving career, a fulfilling life, and an outgoing personality, and reduced me to a mere shell of my former self." She said the public could now see her abuser for what he is, 'a calculated abuser and a malicious manipulator'.
Previous conviction
Holmes, of The Highgrove in Heaton, Bolton, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour but denied the rape charges. Prosecutor Mark Kellett told the court Holmes was convicted of assaulting another woman in 2023, when he sent abusive texts and punched her repeatedly in the face. He received a six-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.
Graham Rishton, defending, said his client had run 'successful businesses' and had a 'considerable work ethic', although his enterprises failed after Covid. His friends described him as 'thoughtful and generous'. His mother died a day before the hearing.
Sentencing, Judge Jon Close noted there had been an 'absence of remorse' and that the messages to his 'particularly vulnerable' victim had been 'cruel, intimidating and bullying'. Holmes, appearing via videolink from HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, showed no reaction as he was jailed for 14 years plus an extra three months for starting his campaign of abuse while his suspended sentence was still current. He will be eligible for parole two-thirds of the way through his sentence. He was also made subject to a 20-year restraining order and placed on the sex offenders' register for life.
