A man in Britain, accused of raping a teenage girl walked free from court today after successfully arguing he suffered from sexsomnia.
Stephen Lee Davies, 43, of Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, claimed he was innocent because he could not stop himself from having sex while asleep.
A jury at Swansea Crown Court took just over an hour today to accept his version of events and find him not guilty.
Davies was cleared after a sleep consultant gave evidence at the trial confirming that what Davies said was probably true.
His wife and a former partner also gave evidence detailing how they became used to being “groped” in the night while sleeping with him.
They said he would have sex with them in his sleep and remember nothing the next day.
Davies would wake the next morning oblivious that anything had happened, he claimed.
He went on trial at the end of last month accused of raping a 16-year-old college student who stayed overnight at his home.
She had gone to sleep on his bed in the early hours of September 7, 2009, using his room because it was cooler.
Davies was already asleep in the bed and told the court he had no idea that she was there.
The teenager awoke in the night to find Davies having sex with her and alleging he called her a “horny bitch,” the jury heard.
The following day he sent her text messages asking her if anything had happened.
When arrested, Davies told police he had woken with an erection and wondered what the teenager was doing in his bed.
When asked if anything had happened, he replied: “Not that I know of.”
Prosecutor Jim Davies had told the jury that it was “significant” that Davies had gone downstairs after sex and put the kettle on.
But Davies explained he was such a deep sleeper that his previous partners would have to tell him what he had done because he had no recollection.
Dr Chris Idzikowski, head of Edinburgh Sleep School, gave expert evidence at the trial.
He explained that sexsomnia was a sleep disorder which fell into the category of sleep walking, something that affects one in 25 people.
He said that sexsomnia affects mostly deep-sleeping men: “Sexsomnia is instinctive behaviour, they are not conscious at the time.”
After the verdict today, Davies left the court and declined to speak.
-With walesonline.co.uk input
