‘It is over 17 years since I first ran a defence based on parasomnias. The circumstances of the offence were that in the early hours a 28-year-old man, whilst staying over at a friend’s house, had left the living room where he was sleeping, walked down the short hallway to his friend’s 15-year-old stepdaughter’s room and got into bed with her (he had slept in her room the night before) and touched her on her breasts. Two experts later (a sleep disorder expert and a neurologist) and I had evidence supportive of his case that what he had done had been in a state of sleep. I ran a defence of non-insane automatism based on somnambulism (sleepwalking) and sexsomnia (sexual activity in sleep). The jury acquitted. 6 years later I represented the same man charged with attempted murder. He had left his house, walked the short distance to his friend’s house, entered by an unlocked side door, went into her bedroom, got on her top of her and then put an axe to her head. Same experts, same defence, save that in this case the judge determined the appropriate defence was insanity and not non-insane automatism. The jury rejected insanity and the defendant was convicted.’

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Drystone Chambers, 19th September 2023

Source: www.drystone.com