Rape case woman accused of having sex while sleepwalking

THE Crown Prosecution Service has apologised to a woman whose rape case was dropped after lawyers claimed she had an episode of “sexsomnia”.

In what is thought to be the first case of its kind, defence lawyers for the alleged assailant claimed Jade Mccrossen-nethercott, who has waived her right to anonymity, had an episode of the rare sleepwalking condition, which causes people to engage in sexual activity in their sleep.

His lawyers claimed it left him with the impression she had consented to sex.

The CPS has now admitted it was wrong to drop the case.

Ms Mccrossen-nethercott reported being raped after she fell asleep fully clothed on a sofa after a party in 2017.

She had woken at 5am to find herself half-naked and with the feeling she had been penetrated, but no recollection of what had happened. A man on the sofa next to her was charged with rape after forensic swabs detected his semen.

The case features tonight in the BBC Three documentary Sexsomnia: Case Closed?

The defence’s argument that Ms Mccrossen-nethercott had an attack of sexsomnia only materialised after lawyers had access to her police interview video. She had sleepwalked once or twice as a teenager, something she said in passing when police asked about her sleep. Two sleep experts suggested it was possible she had an attack of sexsomnia. They said this could have given the defendant the impression she was awake and consenting.

The man was charged with rape and a court date was set. However, the CPS decided to close the case two weeks before the trial in October 2020. Because of the way the CPS closed the case by “offering no evidence”, he was found formally not guilty.

Ms Mccrossen-nethercott had three months to appeal against the CPS decision and requested all the evidence, including police interviews, toxicology reports, witness statements and the sleep expert reports.

A chief crown prosecutor, independent of the department that made the decision to close her case, concluded that the decision had been wrong.

The case should have gone to trial, the CPS admitted, and the sleep expert opinions and defendant’s account should have been challenged in court.

However, her case cannot be reopened, but she is now suing the CPS.

“There is no hope of any justice for what happened to me. But I feel like change is needed,” she said.

‘There is no hope of any justice for what happened to me. But I feel like change is needed’