A 21-year-old Coffs Harbour man was recently found not guilty of
breaking into a nearby home while naked and assaulting a woman in
her bedroom – because he was deemed to be sleepwalking.
The defence successfully argued that he was suffering from a
state of "automatism, namely somnambulism" –
sleepwalking in plain language.
The defence argued that the accused therefore did not have the
"requisite mens rea" to commit the offence. The
legal term "mens rea" means a person has to have
the awareness or knowledge that they are committing wrong in order
to be convicted of a crime.
Accused claims to have no knowledge of his actions
In this NSW case,
R v Jacob Bradley Holland [2017] NSWDC 47, police
officers said the man slurred his words, appeared drunk and smelt
of alcohol. He said he had drunk six cans of beer and gone to bed.
He claimed the next thing he knew he was being held down in a
strange house.
