A "DEVIOUS, controlling and manipulative" multiple rapist who kept victims in a "hidey hole" and behind locked doors in his fortress-like home has been jailed for 27 years.

Michael Dunn, 57, from Redcar, who has been likened to notorious Austrian rapist Josef Fritzl, wept in the dock as he was sent to prison, although the court heard that he had shown no remorse for any of his four victims.

The Northern Echo:

The "hidey hole" in the home of violent paedophile Michael Dunn which he used to conceal a girl he was abusing

Teesside Crown Court heard today that Dunn, who was convicted of 10 rapes, three indecent assaults and three charges of false imprisonment, turned his home into a prison, hiding victims away behind locked doors.

The doors were secured with padlocks, had CCTV cameras outside and the women had no toilet facilities other than kitchen pans.

Dunn, also hid one of his victims, then aged 14, from the police in what he called a "hidey hole" behind the fridge in his kitchen, knocking down a wall to make the cavity and disguising it with dust. He posted his two German shepherds outside to guard the spot where the girl cowered inside.

The court was told that his first victim, who was aged just 10 or 11 when she was raped in 1978 was told by Dunn, then 19: "This is what boyfriends and girlfriends do."

Another young victim was raped and went to the police as far back as 1993 when she was 14, but her account was not believed.

It meant that Dunn was able to continue raping and abusing victims for a further 21 years until 2014 when one of the victims found the courage to come forward and notify police.

Jailing Dunn, Judge Tony Briggs told him: "You are a devious, manipulative and controlling man with a strong urge to dominate."

He added: "You pose a significant risk to members of the public of death or serious physical or psychological injury and a high risk of serious harm to females, that is clearly supported by the evidence.

"You have a very domineering and controlling personality. What you wanted is what you got and I think it is unlikely that personality will change very much during the course of your custody.

"You have a volcanic temper, particularly in drink and alcohol has been a particular problem. This is likely to reoccur and you don't demonstrate any insight into your actions."

Judge Briggs said it was "particularly repellent" that father-of-six Dunn took one of the girls - the one he hid behind the wall - under his wing after she had already been raped by a family member.

He was kind to her, helped her to report her abuse to the authorities and then used it as a means to win her trust to begin raping her all over again.

Judge Briggs said: "She was particularly vulnerable, she had suffered serious abuse and made a deliberate attempt to help her and thereafter there were persistent attempts to establish a sexual relationship.

"The background is particularly repellent because you knew precisely what she had gone through and you were proposing to put her through it again. You told her she knew what sex was like because she had been raped already."

The rape of three of Dunn's victims began when they were schoolgirls aged 10 or 11, and two at the age of 14. The other victim was raped and physically abused as an adult.

Prosecutor Richard Bennett described the lengths Dunn went to in imprisoning his victims and to keep them from the authorities.

Mr Bennett said: "He turned his home into a prison. He would lock (his victims) in various rooms, they describe his paranoia.

"They would be locked in these rooms, there were padlocks on the doors and CCTV monitoring outside the bedrooms allowing him to monitor movement inside the house.

"They had to ask his permission to have the doors unlocked or urinate into a pan or other container provided in the room."

He said the victims were sometimes provided with walkie talkies so that he could communicate with them if he chose to behind the locked doors.

Mr Bennett described the hidey hole, which he would hide the girl of 14 who had confided in him about the sexual abuse.

She would run away from care and turn up at Dunn's home in the Manchester area in the early 1990s.

To hide her from the police he placed her in the cavity behind his fridge that he made specifically for that purpose.

Mr Bennett said: "She was kept in what he called a hidey hole in the kitchen which was concealed on a number of occasions from police officers who would call looking for her.

"He concealed the hole using plasterboard which was covered with dust and he would keep his two German shepherd dogs in the vicinity. This was how he managed to keep this girl hidden away in the hidey hole and away from the authorities for so long."

Dunn's offending began when he lived in Manchester and continues as he lived in addresses around the country including Cambridgeshire, Newcastle, Gateshead and finally in Redcar.

His victims told the court in statements about the effect his crimes had on their lives.

The girl hidden behind the wall, now aged 38 and with children of her own, said: "At first I didn't realise the impact his abuse was having on me as it became second nature and it was all I knew.

"After his arrest it really hit me. I took an overdose of paracetamol and alcohol, I was struggling to cope and I ended up in hospital overnight.

"I was so cared of him, I didn't know what he would do next.

"The impact of his has really hit me, I have suffered extreme nightmares about Dunn attacking me and I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"I struggle to sleep and have suffered depression. I was referred for counselling following the court case.

"My experiences (with him) have meant that I will never be able to have an established relationship again.

"Hopefully with the help of my counsellors and with time I will be able to move on and put the abuse behind me."

The court heard the victim whose rape ordeals and abuse began as an adult had a miscarriage after Dunn hurled a high chair at her.

In her statement she said: "I have suffered depression, anxiety attacks and alcohol problems as a direct result of the abuse I suffered from him."

And the girl who was raped by Dunn aged 14 told of her relief that the complaint she had made 21 years earlier was finally being believed.

She said: "The matter was reported to the police in Manchester but I was not believed by the police or the social services.

"It meant I had no self worth, I felt that if no one believed me it meant that any man could do whatever they wanted to me."

She said she was relieved that justice had eventually caught up with her rapist.

She said: "Most importantly I feel I have been finally believed and that means so much to me."

Rod Hunt, mitigating, said that Dunn had successfully home-schooled his children, who had gone on to lead lives without troubling the law.

He said Dunn's daughter spoke of trips to the museum and fossil-hunting expeditions with her father.

Mr Hunt said: "All that run alongside the darkness Your Honour has heard about means there must be some good in this defendant."

Dunn was unemployed through much of his offending but the court heard he did for a time have his own business cleaning out skips being used in home renovations.

The police officer who led the investigation which brought him to justice, Detective Chief Inspector Warren Shepheard (*corr) said: "He was a devious, calculating individual who showed no remorse for any of his victims at any stage.

"He denied his crimes throughout and dragged them all through ordeal of giving evidence at his trial. I can't praise their courage and determination highly enough.

"This is the most harrowing, disturbing and complex case I have dealt with in 25 years as a police officer.

"I welcome the extended sentence the judge imposed today, it is a fitting punishment for his crimes."

Dunn's brother Robert Dunn, from Chopwell, Gateshead, attended court and said: "See you soon shit" as he was led away.

He said: "I told the police about him years and years ago, if I had been listened to none of this would have happened to those girls."

Dunn, of Alfred Street, Redcar, denied 19 charges and claimed the allegations were lies and the sexual attacks did not happen.

Jurors convicted him on 16 charges - ten of rape, three of indecent assault, three of false imprisonment after two days of deliberations.

An investigation has now been launched into how Greater Manchester Police handled the case in the early 1990s.

Dunn’s estranged brother Robert has also claimed that he had reported his brother to social services and police as far back as 1992.

The force voluntarily referred themselves to the IPCC, who are investigating why the young girl’s cry for help was ignored.

IPCC Commissioner Jan Williams said: “We will be looking to see what reports were made to the police at the time and how they were responded to.

“We will then review whether or not the allegations were dealt with in accordance with the national policing policies and guidance in place at the time.”

Afterwards, a spokesman for the childrens' charity the NSPCC said: “Dunn used fear and intimidation to control his victims and forcing them to keep silent for years. The repeated sexual abuse they suffered at his hands is truly sickening.

“Dunn is a danger to the public and today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes he carried out over decades.

“Now that he is behind bars we hope the authorities will examine how Dunn was able to carry out this horrific campaign of abuse for so long.

“This case also shows that anyone who has suffered abuse, no matter how much time has passed, can come forward and receive justice.”

Speaking aferwards, an NSPCC spokesperson said: “Dunn used fear and intimidation to control his victims and forcing them to keep silent for years. The repeated sexual abuse they suffered at his hands is truly sickening.

“Dunn is a danger to the public and today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes he carried out over decades.

“Now that he is behind bars we hope the authorities will examine how Dunn was able to carry out this horrific campaign of abuse for so long.

“This case also shows that anyone who has suffered abuse, no matter how much time has passed, can come forward and receive justice.”

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