Jury deliberating on trial of man accused of raping his friend in Dublin apartment
The jury is continuing its deliberations in the trial of a man accused of raping his friend at an apartment in Dublin.
The man, who can't be named to protect her identity, claims he suffers from sexsomnia and was asleep when he had sex with her.
The jury has been left to decide whether the man raped his friend in a bed they shared at an apartment in Dublin following a night out in Sept 2009.
She said she was fully dressed when she went to sleep and woke up to find the now 29-year-old having sex with her.
He told Gardaí he had a history of sleepwalking and had no memory of what she was alleging.
He said his girlfriend would often wake up to find him grinding up against her in his sleep.
The conflicting views of various medical experts were presented to the jurors towards the end of the trial.
In his closing address earlier his week, defence barrister Hugh Hartnett said he sympathised with the woman but he said all the indicators of his client suffering from sexsomnia, a condition that can result in a person carrying out a sexual act in his or her sleep, were present.
The jury spent half an hour considering a verdict yesterday and resumed their deliberations this morning.
