Description
A man who raped a sleeping woman tried to deny the crime by saying he was also asleep when he sexually assaulted her.
Alan Tyson said he had sexsomnia, a type of sleep disorder and recognised medical condition, which causes people to engage in sexual activity while asleep.
Tyson argued in court earlier this year that this meant he could not have the intent required to commit rape but a jury found him guilty.
His victim did not know Tyson but was a friend of another resident of the house in Wirral where the attack took place in August 2019.
She had been invited there for drinks and, after a few hours of drinking, became unwell and went to sleep on a camp bed in the living room of the house.
She then told him to stop and went upstairs to one of the bedrooms to get away from him and tried to sleep in a bed with her friend.
Tyson then followed her and also tried to get in the bed next to her despite her protests. Hours later she awoke in the morning to find Tyson raping her.
Tyson denied having any sexual contact with the victim in interviews with police and it was only when DNA swabs linked him that he admitted he had sex with her.
John Wyn Williams, prosecuting, said Tyson then said he suffered from sexsomnia and pleaded not guilty to rape on that basis but a jury found him guilty earlier this year.
In a statement to the court yesterday morning, the victim said the attack continued to have a profound impact on her, derailing her career, causing her serious mental health problems and straining her relationships with her close family.
She also criticised Tyson for continuing to plead not guilty.
She said: "If he had just pleaded guilty originally then I wouldn't have had to go through all this for two years."
David Birrell, defending, said Tyson had no previous convictions and, despite a difficult upbringing, had previously been contributing to society and had shown no signs of this type of offending.
However, he acknowledged that the guilty verdict delivered by jurors earlier this year undermined Tyson's claim the assault was caused by sexsomnia.
Birrell said: "It may well be that your honour has doubts about whether he has the condition.
"The jury's verdict could be interpreted that he does not have that condition."
However, Mr Birrell said Tyson had taken numerous steps to address what he believed had been an assault caused by sexsomnia, including switching jobs so he didn't work at night and eliminating his alcohol intake.
Judge David Potter said Tyson's conviction meant the idea that he was asleep when he raped his victim had been roundly rejected.
The judge said: "That a condition called sexsomnia exists is well documented.
"Yet in convicting you a jury rejected the notion that you were asleep when you penetrated her."
He continued: "I conclude you were conscious of what you were doing at the time of the rape."
Tyson, of Ladyfield, Prenton, was jailed for seven years for rape and will have to serve at least two thirds of that before being released on licence.
He will be made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years and an indefinite restraining order to stop him contacting the victim.