Sleepwalk barman is cleared in rape case

In what is thought to be the first case of its kind in Britain, 22-year-old James Bilton, was acquitted of the assaults, saying he could not remember what happened.

A jury unanimously cleared the defendant after hearing how in extremely rare cases sleepwalkers could carry out violent acts without intending them.

York Crown Court heard Mr Bilton had suffered from somnambulism since he was a child, and carried on walking in his sleep even as an adult.

The defendant looked shocked with emotion as Judge Shaun Spencer QC said he was free to leave the court - and was too upset to speak outside.

The 22-year-old complainant went to Mr Bilton's home in Hope Street, York, for a drink after a night out in the city on March 22.

She said she slept in his bed, while Mr Bilton took the sofa - but woke up in the early hours to find him raping her.

The woman could not fight back because she "felt numb from her stomach to her legs", but the attack happened quickly and Mr Bilton then left the room.

But the defendant told the court he could not remember a thing, and woke up on the sofa to hear someone moving about the house.

He met the woman in the hallway as she left at about 5am and told her she was welcome to stay, but she said: "I'm going home."

Mr Bilton went back to his own bed and was woken by police banging on the door of his home at 10.30am.

When officers arrested him on suspicion of rape, he cried out: "Oh, my God," in disbelief.

The former student had been a sleepwalker in the past, particularly after a night out drinking, and had once walked into a strange room and said "hello" to people without realising what he was doing.

Defence expert Dr Irshaad Ebrahim said the complainant's story that the attack started suddenly, was rapid and stopped suddenly, fitted the situation of someone who was sleepwalking.

Medical evidence showed the woman had either been raped or subject to "forceful sex" within the last 12 hours.

But Mr Bilton, who now lives with his family in Scarborough, was of previous good character, and witnesses stressed the attack was "completely unlike him".

The complainant herself said: "The way he behaved, I would never, ever have expected Mr Bilton to do."

Dr Ebrahim said sleepwalkers could do anything to someone awake - but only in rare cases would they commit a violent attack.

Mr Bilton told the court he had walked in his sleep since the age of 13, but had never undergone any treatment. He insisted he could not remember anything, but told the court: "I can give no other explanation."

The jury also heard from Mr Bilton's mother, Tessa Hazelwood, who said sleepwalking ran in the family.

Judge Shaun Spencer QC, summing up the case, said Mr Bilton was using the defence of "automatism", or behaving like a "useless machine".

"The defendant does not seriously dispute the account of events," he said. "Nor could he, because it is his case that he has no account to give, and the reason he has no account to give is because he was asleep, or in a state of somnambulism. His mind was not in control of his actions."

'In the public interest'

PROSECUTORS today told why they proceeded with the case against James Bilton without a medical expert of their own in court.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Crown Prosecution Service said: "We do not have a policy with regard to a defence based on sleepwalking. Each case is taken on its merits, and our decisions are made based on the evidence available.

"It was in the public interest to pursue this case, and we believe there was sufficient evidence to continue with it after we received the defence expert's report.

"There were elements of the report which could support the prosecution argument the behaviour

was not that of a 'normal' sleepwalker. Rape is a serious and distressing offence, and the needs of the victim are given a high priority. It is the decision of the jury, not the Crown Prosecution Service, as to whether the defendant committed this crime."

A 'groundbreaking' court case

Sleepwalking expert Dr Irshaad Ebrahim, from the London Sleep Centre, said: "This is possibly the first case of its kind in English criminal law.

"There are about 40 cases of sexual incidents like this worldwide which have been published in scientific literature, but only about ten of them actually came to court.

"But this is the first sleepwalking case of its kind that I know of in Britain where someone has been acquitted of rape."

But he said the London and Edinburgh Sleep Centres had acted as witnesses in other cases where sleepwalking had been used as a defence, including in

driving cases, and even an attempted murder.

"Sexual behaviour is just one of the things that people can do when they are sleepwalking - but it attracts a lot of attention because it is an emotive subject," he said.

"People can do all the things they can when they awake when they are sleepwalking. I have given evidence at about 20 court cases - but this was my first rape case."

But he urged victims of crime not to be concerned because the defence of sleepwalking could only be used in extremely rare cases.

"There is an agreed international protocol that we follow to assess people," he said. "The jury made the right decision in this case because the pattern of behaviour was compatible with sleepwalking behaviour.

"Some people might think they can now use this defence - but tests are able to show when someone is genuine."

Sleepwalking is more common in childhood - but also affects one to 2.5 per cent of the adult population.

It is triggered by a change in the brain when someone is in a deep sleep and it can be brought on by external factors including stress or drinking alcohol.

Cause for concern

A spokesman for the charity Victim Support, which helps people who have been raped, said: "This is a most unusual case, and it does cause some concern. It will not help the general feeling among women that it is a waste of time reporting rape because it is hard getting a conviction.

"There may be some people who will see this as getting off on a technicality. But it is the job of the court to prove someone has committed a criminal act - and in this case there was reasonable doubt a medical condition did affect the person involved.

"This will be cold comfort to a complainant - whether someone has criminal intent or not does not change the fact of what they may have experienced.

"It is almost impossible to know in this case what the complainant must be feeling, and there is evidence to show some sexual activity had taken place."

One York rape victim, whose attacker was cleared of assaulting her but later raped someone else, said: "There is a problem that because one person has used this defence, others may try to use it as an excuse to see if they can get away with rape.

"It has set a precedent."

The right to anonymity

Ryedale MP John Greenway said today he believed the automatic naming of some rape defendants should be re-examined.

He said it might be time to examine whether some defendants accused of rape should be given the same right to anonymity as alleged rape victims, as their identification could lead to them being permanently stigmatised even if acquitted. But he stressed that he did not believe this should apply in cases of violent rape by strangers.

Updated: 12:42 Tuesday, December 20, 2005