Courts

Man who claims he ‘involuntarily’ raped woman due to sleep disorder jailed

Accused accepts he had non-consensual sex with former colleague but says he suffers from ‘sexomnia’ and is not morally culpable for actions

Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo imposed a sentence of eight years on the man and suspended the final two years on strict conditions. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh
Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo imposed a sentence of eight years on the man and suspended the final two years on strict conditions. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh
David O'Sullivan
Eimear Dodd
Thu Jan 25 2024 - 12:43

A man who claims he acted as a “automaton” and “involuntarily” raped a woman due to a sleep disorder has been jailed.

The Dubliner (30), who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of his victim, was found guilty of one count of rape on February 9th, 2018 following a trial at the Central Criminal Court last December.

Imposing sentence on Thursday, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo noted the seriousness of the offence and the impact it has had on the victim, who previously worked with the man.

He said the man first attempted to persuade the woman to get into bed with him, made two sexual advances which were rebuffed, and then waited until she had fallen asleep to undress and rape her.

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He said the man accepts he had non-consensual sex with the victim and had written a letter to the court expressing remorse. However, the judge noted that the man did not accept wrongdoing and contended that his actions were “involuntary” and he was not morally culpable for them.

The judge said the man’s position was that he acted as an “automaton” and was, therefore, not taking responsibility for his actions or their consequences.

During the trial, the defence submitted that the man suffered from a sleep disorder called “sexomnia” where people engage in sexual behaviour while asleep.

Finalising the sentence, Mr Justice Naidoo said the mitigation included the man’s lack of previous convictions and the 19 testimonials submitted on his behalf by his wife, family, former employers and friends.

Mr Justice Naidoo said these testimonials suggest the accused may be a “good candidate for rehabilitation.” However, he said this was lessened by the fact that the man does not accept wrongdoing.

He imposed a sentence of eight years and suspended the final two years on strict conditions, including that the man places himself under the supervision of the Probation Service.

The court previously heard that the man and woman had been socialising as part of a group. At the end of the night, the man invited the group back to his apartment to continue the party.

They arrived at the apartment at around 5.30am and the woman brought the man into his room before going to the living room and trying to sleep. He asked her to get into bed with him and she refused.

The court was told that it was cold in the living room, so the woman went into the man’s bedroom to sleep on the bed. She was fully clothed when she lay down. She later woke up to the man having sex with her.

“What are you doing, and how many times have you done that?” she asked him, to which he responded “you wanted me”.

The woman made a complaint to the gardaí a week later and the man was arrested later in 2018. He answered questions but said nothing had happened between the two of them and that he could only recall going to bed. DNA tests showed his semen was on the woman’s underwear and tights.

The court heard the man had made sexual comments to her before the night of the assault.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said the attack “has made me feel less. It has made me feel weak.”

“When you’ve been violated in that way, it feels like somebody has taken a piece of you,” she told the court. “You feel like something disgusting has been inside you, and there’s nothing you can do to make yourself feel clean.”

She said it was “belittling” for someone to rape you and then “try and shrug it off by saying they did it in their sleep”.

“I needed to do this for me,” she said of pursuing the case. “I needed to make sure that he wasn’t able to take all that he has from me without losing anything himself.”

Kathleen Leader SC, defending, said her client does not accept the verdict but “expresses his genuine and sincere remorse” towards the woman. He acknowledges that she “shouldn’t have been subjected to what happened on the night in question”, counsel said.

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