A MAN aged 26 on trial over an alleged sexual assault of his cousin after a family funeral told gardaí he had previously carried out such an attack while sleepwalking.
The jury was told on the first day of the trial it was the State’s case that a defence of automatism, or sleepwalking, is no defence when the accused is drunk.
He pleaded not guilty.
In her opening speech at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, counsel for the prosecution, Ann Rowland, said the accused had told gardaí: “I’m going to be straight with you, I can’t remember anything,” and said he had a history of “doing stupid things” when drunk.
The jury would hear that on August 11th, 2009, the victim woke in her bed to find her cousin lying beside her and her pyjama bottoms around her ankles.
Ms Rowland said the jury would hear evidence that the accused agreed that the semen found on his cousin could be his, and that he told gardaí: “I did this before with my girlfriend, when I was drunk, when I was asleep.”
Counsel told the jury that drinking so much that an accused had no control over what they did and behaved like “an automaton” was no defence.
“If you were sleepwalking, this could be a defence. However, if you get yourself so drunk that it leads to sleepwalking, that is not a defence,” she said.
The trial continues before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury of 10 men and two women.