Rapist obsessed with James McAvoy horror film Split told victim he had multiple personalities

A rapist who was obsessed with the James McAvoy horror film Split told his victim he had multiple personalities, a court heard.

In the 2016 movie, McAvoy portrayed a violent offender with dissociative identity disorder (DID) who has 23 different personalities and kidnaps three teenage girls.

Joseph Head, 25, was said to be fascinated with the film and manipulated his victim by falsely claiming he had DID.

At Winchester Crown Court in Hampshire, he was convicted of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a three-week trial and jailed for eight years. Head will also be on the sex offenders register for life.

The court heard he had told his victim that “J”, one of his fake personalities, was “very violent” and would appear if she did not do exactly what he wanted.

For three months, Head went to “extreme lengths to manipulate her” into believing either him or her would come to serious harm if she did not have sex with him.

He even convinced her his different personalities forced him to take an overdose. However, toxicology evidence proved this was false.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered a “huge amount of fear and intimidation”.

When Surrey Police searched Head’s phone, officers found “notes” that outlined each of his “multiple personalities”, their names and the characteristics of each. His psychiatric report concluded he did not have DID.

Surrey Police said following the trial that Head had a “fascination” with the film Split.

Andy Price, the investigating officer, said: “Head is a dangerous predator who manipulated and frightened this young woman into having sex with him without her true consent.”

He added: “I would like to acknowledge the bravery of the survivor in coming forward to us, supporting the investigation and helping keep other women safe.”