Jury request to see skirt woman was wearing during alleged rape

A jury has yet to reach a verdict in the trial of a man who claims he was acting in his sleep when he allegedly raped his friend.

The 29-year-old man has conceded he might have had sex with the woman, but claims he was suffering from sexsomnia at the time, a rare condition that causes people to carry out sexual acts while asleep.

The man and woman had been at a nightclub that night and he had consumed several drinks and a naggin of whiskey before they returned to a friend’s house to sleep. The prosecution say alcohol intake is a more likely factor than sexsomnia.

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of raping the woman at an apartment in Dublin in the early hours of September 28th, 2008.

A jury of seven men and four women has spent five hours deliberating since Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, the foreman requested to see the skirt the woman was wearing during the alleged incident which she said had been pushed up by the accused.

Jurors also asked to rehear a portion of the evidence where the accused described looking up sexsomnia on the internet after the alleged rape.

The jury will resume its deliberations on Tuesday before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy.