Plymouth soldier who filled his home with 10,000 dolphins ‘to cure his PTSD’ is jailed for sex attack
Michael Caine, 58, says he started his £90,000 collection of stuffed animals, figurines and posters to help with post traumatic stress disorder from his time in the forces
A FORMER soldier whose home is filled with 10,000 items of dolphin paraphernalia has been jailed for raping a vulnerable woman.
Michael Caine, 58, says he started his £90,000 collection of stuffed animals, figurines and posters to help with post traumatic stress disorder from his time in the forces.
He surrounded himself with dolphin-themed light fittings, toilet seats, cookie jar, kettle, radio, ashtrays and board games - and even had one tattooed on his head.
Now the father-of-five has now been jailed for 11 years for the rape of a woman aged over 13.
It is understood the victim had learning difficulties.
Lead investigator Det Con Laura Chisholm said: "After a long and traumatic time the family have now been given justice and this is reflected in the sentence Mr Caine received."
Caine, of Plymouth, was arrested by Devon and Cornwall Police on behalf of Durham Constabulary in September 2015.
A relative of Caine's said he had told different stories to family members about the real reasons behind his arrest.
Last month he was convicted of rape and sexual assault at Durham Crown Court.
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All of his mugs are dolphin-themed in his 'shrine' to the animal
Caine - who changed his name from Michael Davey more than 20 years ago - has previously said he fell in love with dolphins after a chance encounter with one as a seven-year old.
He claimed his dolphin collection has helped him overcome the nightmares and flashbacks he suffered from his time in the Devon and Dorset Regiment after an IRA sniper shot him in the head - with the bullet ricocheting off his helmet.
Every room of his two-bed bungalow in Plymouth, Devon, was left jam-packed with dolphin-related items, pictures and novelties.
In an interview last year he said he spends his spare time listening to dolphin music and even watches them on film to relax.
The oddball said: "Dolphins do work as therapy for my PTSD and are the best thing for it.
"I have bad nightmares but to hear dolphins sing and talking within the song and look around at my collection is a huge relief.
"I believe they are healers. When I listen to my dolphin music or watch a dolphin DVD it definitely helps."
He also said: “I have a total of 10,559 different dolphin items I have collected and they are all over my home. Everything here is dolphin related.
“I have dolphin wall units, kettle, cookie jar, wine glass, blankets on the sofa, tea towels. You name it – I have it.
“All the walls are covered with dolphin plates. It is a shrine.
“I don’t want anything else other than dolphins. Every piece of wall, anywhere around my bungalow, I’ll put something else there.
“I’ve still got 30 boxes up in the attic that have to come down, but I am squeezing them in slowly.
“All my friends know me as the dolphin man and when I have shown them my collection it gives them all a big smile.”
He has already purchased a dolphin urn for his ashes when he dies.
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