Man in South-Western Finland sentenced to 8 years: rapes, attempted murder and woman in boot
The District Court of South-Western Finland sentenced a 34-year-old man to eight years in prison for 25 criminal charges. The victim had to pretend to be dead to escape.
South-Western Finland District Court: 8 years imprisonment for 25 offences of intimate partner violence
According to Ilta-Sanomat, the District Court of South-Western Finland has sentenced a 34-year-old man to eight years imprisonment for a serious collection of violent and sexual offences. The sentence covers 25 charges, with the acts committed during winter and spring 2025–2026.
According to the judgement, the man repeatedly assaulted and raped his female partner over several months. The victim told the court that she had been afraid of the man, who was violent, aggressive and unpredictable.
Woman forced into car boot
In one incident, the man forced the woman into his car and drove at high speed well over the speed limit on a motorway whilst intoxicated. After stopping, he assaulted her in the car. The woman tried to escape by running, but the man caught her, dragged her back and forced her into the boot. The man drove for approximately ten minutes before letting the woman out – after which the assault continued.
The man also filmed his female partner showering without permission and distributed nude material. In the video, he insulted the woman.
Attempted murder in May
The most serious crime occurred in May. According to the judgement, the man raped the woman with severe violence and strangled her unconscious on several occasions. The woman feared for her life. She managed to escape the situation only by pretending to be dead: the man then rose off her, and the woman was able to flee the flat.
The woman sought medical attention and also told her mother about the events, who saw the injuries her daughter had sustained.
Breach of the peace and theft
In April 2026, the man arrived at the woman's front door at around 5am and began kicking the door. The woman called the emergency services twice; the man fled on both occasions before the authorities arrived. A couple of weeks later, the man asked a maintenance worker to open the door to the woman's empty flat and stole two designer handbags from inside. At that time, the woman was in a refuge.
District Court assessment of evidence
The man denied almost all charges in court and admitted only to the unauthorised distribution of nude material. He also claimed to have been coerced into sex himself.
The District Court did not find the man's account credible. The court noted that the woman had recounted the events in detail, consistently and also in ways unfavourable to herself – which increased the credibility of her account. The man's account, by contrast, contained "significant contradictions and inconsistencies".
Artificial intelligence conversation was also used as evidence, in which the man had himself recounted the violence he had inflicted on the woman. The court concluded that the woman had continued the relationship out of fear, not because the violence had not occurred.
Judgement and compensation
The District Court sentenced the man for seven counts of assault, six counts of rape, three counts of aggravated rape, attempted murder, deprivation of liberty, voyeurism, unauthorised distribution of sexual images, two counts of breach of the peace, aggravated theft, unlawful threats and defamation.
The man must pay the woman 20,000 euros for suffering caused by the violation, 5,000 euros for temporary psychological harm, and in addition thousands of euros for pain and suffering. The man was remanded to Turku prison.
Ilta-Sanomat does not publish the man's name to protect the victim.
Source: Ilta-Sanomat