A man who claims he acted as an “automaton” and “involuntarily” raped a woman due to a sleep disorder has been jailed.
The 30-year-old Dublin man, 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 the sentence on Thursday, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo noted the seriousness of the offence and the impact it has had on the victim, who had previously worked with the man.
He said the man first attempted to persuade the victim to get into bed with him, made two sexual advances before waiting until she had fallen asleep to undress and then rape her.
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.
'Sexomnia'
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, 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 the woman had been socialising as part of a group on February 8th, 2018. At the end of the night, the man invited the group back to his Dublin apartment to continue the party.
They arrived at the apartment at around 5.30 am on the morning of February 9th. 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. She asked him: “What are you doing, and how many times have you done that?”, to which he responded “You wanted me.”
The woman left the flat and called a taxi.
She made a complaint to the gardaí on February 15th, and the man was arrested on June 30th of that year.
He answered questions put to him by the gardaí but said nothing had happened between the two of them and that he could only recall going to bed.
DNA tests found his semen on the woman's underwear and tights.
It feels like somebody has taken a piece of you
The court heard the man had made sexual comments to her before the night of the assault, including: “That top leaves nothing to the imagination,” and “Those lips could give a good blowjob”.
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.
“Do you know how belittling it is for someone to rape you and then try and shrug it off by saying they did it in their sleep?” she said. “I needed to do this for me. 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 and acknowledges that she “shouldn’t have been subjected to what happened on the night in question”.
She said her client has a good work history and “is somebody that is capable of a very generous and a very kind attitude towards people in his life.” She said there was material support that the man was “somebody who is generous towards others, who is caring and who is kind.”
Ms Leader said the man had “shown himself to be someone who can conduct himself in a very pro-social way” and asked the court to take into account that the rape was of a short duration and left the woman without physical injuries.
A number of testimonials were handed into court on his behalf.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
