Man not guilty of rape while sleeping
A man accused of rape has walked free because a jury determined he was asleep at the time of the incident.
Stephen Davies was accused of fondling a 16-year-old girl in his home in Wales in 2009.
However he suffers from sexsomnia, a disorder that causes people to engage in sexual acts while sleeping, and says he has no recollection of the incident.
According to The Daily Mail, the student had been staying overnight at the 43-year-old's home when she woke up ill.
She was told to sleep on Mr Davies' bed as his room was cooler but woke up to find herself laying on the side and Mr Davies having sex with her.
He told the jury he was already fast asleep and didn't know she was there. He said he woke up with an erection and wondered why she was in bed with him.
He sent a text message to the teenager the following day asking if they had had sex.
When she replied saying "go to hell you dirty b******" he panicked and asked his partner to ask her to explain.
Even after his arrest, he claimed he didn't know if he had had intercourse with her. When questioned if he had had sex with her, he replied: ‘Not that I know of.’
The prosecutors tried to argue he wasn't suffering from sexsomnia at the time because he called the teen ‘horny b****’ and spoke her name. After intercourse, he went downstairs, boiled a kettle and groped her for a second time when he returned to bed.
However his sexsomnia claims were backed up by his former partner and an international sleep expert, who said sufferers had no memory of what happened during the night.
His former wife Angela Davies told the jury what it was like to live with a sexsomniac.
She told Swansea Crown Court that from the beginning of their relationship, he would wake up in the middle of the night wanting sex.
"Sometimes I would push him away and sometimes we would have sex. In either case he would not remember in the morning.
"It became a bit of a joke. I would say I must be pretty rubbish because he could not remember. Even if his eyes were open he would not remember.
"He could sit up and we would talk but he could not remember it the next day."
She said she felt in control because Mr Davies was asleep and she could decide whether to agree to sex.
"He was never violent and never forced me to have sex against my will.
"Sometimes his eyes were open but there was no-one at home," she added.
Sleep expert Dr Chris Idzikowski from Edinburgh Sleep Centre said that Mr Davies showed all the signs of suffering from sexsomnia.
"It affects mainly men who are deep sleepers. It can involve almost any sort of sexual activity and could go on for twenty or thirty minutes.
"It is extremely unlikely they will have any memory because amnesia is associated with the condition. Less than one per cent might remember something. It tends to affect middle aged and older men.
"Sexsomnia is instinctive behaviour, they are not conscious at the time."
Applause broke out in the public gallery after the jury returned with a unanimous not guilty verdict.
Judge Paul Thomas thanked them jury for dealing with "a particularly difficult case."
