'Sleepwalking' rapist jailed for six years - The Guardian

A man who claimed he was sleepwalking when he raped a 17-year-old girl at a Portuguese holiday resort in 2009 has been jailed for six years.

Zack Thompson, 20, maintained his defence for two and a half years before finally admitting the rape. The case is thought to be just the second in Britain where a sleepwalking defence has been successfully challenged. In 2011 John Docherty of Glasgow was found guilty of attempted murder, despite claiming he was sleepwalking at the time.

Sentencing Thompson at Nottingham crown court yesterday, the judge, John Milmo QC, said the crime has had a devastating effect on the victim.

"She said 'I did nothing wrong', and she was absolutely right," the judge said.

"I only hope that today will mark an occasion when she can go back to being the happy young girl she used to be."

Dawn Pritchard, prosecuting, said Thompson was 18 when he raped the girl, who is now 19, while they were on holiday in Albufeira.

He said he had drunk seven or eight pints, but could not remember anything after that. When asked if he had raped the girl, he said: "I can't remember, maybe."

The victim returned to the UK immediately after the rape and reported it to the police.

When Thompson, of Newark, returned to the UK he handed himself into the police. He did not deny the attack but refused to take criminal responsibility from the outset, claiming he was sleepwalking and had no memory of it. The judge said he could not rule out the possibility the amnesia was genuine.

Nottinghamshire police said they had sought expert advice and guidance all over the UK and abroad about sleepwalking as a criminal defence and were referred to Professor Mark Pressman, an American psychologist with more than 30 years' experience in diagnosing and treating sleep-related disorders.

He reviewed the evidence, including interviewing Thompson himself, and found that his behaviour during the attack was not consistent with the actions normally displayed by sleepwalkers.

He found Thompson's memory loss began around half an hour before he went to bed, and concluded it was likely to have been the result of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.

Thompson finally withdrew the sleepwalking defence, after it was successfully challenged.

Nottinghamshire police said Thompson went on to claim, however, that he was insane when he committed the rape. He was assessed by an expert psychiatrist, who rejected the claim, and he finally pleaded guilty at Nottingham crown court in March.

A joint statement from the victim and her family said the last two and a half years had been "exhausting and emotionally draining for us all".

They went on: "We have faced repeated disappointment and countless adjournments at court, which has been extremely frustrating and disheartening.

"Dealing with such a traumatic event changes everything - it has pulled the family apart, but it's also brought us together and made us stronger as a family too.

"When this happened to her, she was still a child and struggled to grasp the enormity of what happened to her.

"She has had to grow up very quickly and has had to deal with feelings and emotions that no young woman should have to."

There had been many times they felt like dropping the case and giving up, but knew they could not if they wanted to achieve justice.

The statement added: "We are thrilled that justice has been done and that he will finally have to pay for what he did - but the ordeal does not end here.

"We have not walked away from court today free of this nightmare and, though we are hopeful for the future, we are sure our lives will never be the same again."