A man accused of raping a teenage girl has walked free from court after successfully arguing he suffered from sexsomnia.
Stephen Lee Davies, 43, of Pembroke Dock, west Wales, claimed he was innocent because he could not stop himself from having sex while asleep.
A jury at Swansea Crown Court took just over an hour to accept his version of events and find him not guilty.
Davies was cleared after a sleep consultant gave evidence at the trial confirming that what Davies said was probably true.
His wife and a former partner also gave evidence detailing how they became used to being "groped" in the night while sleeping with him. They said he would have sex with them in his sleep and remember nothing the next day.
Davies went on trial at the end of last month accused of raping a 16-year-old college student who stayed overnight at his home.
She had gone to sleep on his bed in the early hours of September 7 2009, using his room because it was cooler. Davies was already asleep in the bed and told the court he had no idea that she was there.
The teenager awoke in the night to find Davies having sex with her, the jury heard. The following day he sent her text messages asking her if anything had happened.
Dr Chris Idzikowski, head of Edinburgh Sleep School, gave expert evidence at the trial. He said that sexsomnia affects mostly deep-sleeping men: "Sexsomnia is instinctive behaviour, they are not conscious at the time."
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