A ‘deluded and self-obsessed’ rapist has been jailed for ten years after his attacks left his victim needing years of counselling.

Paul Henley twice raped the woman at her home in East Devon but is continuing to deny the attacks despite having been found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court last month.

He was convicted at his second trial after the first had to be abandoned because some jurors became upset by remarks made inside the jury room by some of their number when the case was first heard a year ago.

The victim wrote a personal statement in which she revealed that she is now receiving counselling and has felt scared, anxious and helpless as a result of her ordeal.

Henley, aged 45, of Oak Hill, East Budleigh, denied but was found guilty of two counts of rape and jailed for ten years by Judge Stephen Climie, who also imposed a lifelong restraining order forbidding any attempt to contact the victim.

He told him: “You raped her for your own sexual gratification at a time when you were deluded and self-obsessed.”

Mr Richard Posner, prosecuting, said the two rapes occurred some years ago but was not reported until 2021, when Henley was arrested and denied the offences, telling police that any sexual activity was consensual.

Hollie Gilbery, mitigating, said Henley does not accept the verdicts of the jury but has no vengeful feelings about the complainant.

She said he was undergoing a difficult time in his life when he committed the offences, having just been diagnosed with fibro myalgia and having suffered a family bereavement .

He has been referred for an assessment for autism since being remanded in custody and has mental health issues.