Nottingham student jailed after claiming he raped sleeping student due to ‘sexsomnia’

A Nottingham Trent University student has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after raping a fellow student who was asleep and attacking another.

Nottinghamshire Live reports that 24-year-old Luke Fox claimed to suffer from “sexsomnia”, a condition where people engage in sexual activity while sleeping. Fox suggested it could be triggered by alcohol.

Judge Michael Duty KC described Fox’s first victim as “vulnerable” owing to the amount of alcohol she had consumed when she woke to find him raping her. The judge also told Fox that the second victim, who he assaulted under a year later, “wept in the witness box” while giving evidence.

via Nottinghamshire Police

Judge Duty told the defendant: “What you did to those two was utterly traumatic and whatever the consequences are for you today they will be much harder on (the first victim). She will find it extremely hard to put this behind her and instead learn to live with it rather than forget it.

“Everyone recognises that the sentences in this case need to be consecutive but you have shown dignity in your pre-sentence report by recognising the dreadful affect your behaviour is likely to have caused these two.”

Luke Fox was found guilty of rape and assault by penetration against the two victims. As well as his prison sentence, Fox will be placed on the sex offender register for life.

One of the assaults took place following a party at Nottingham Trent University’s Clifton campus. The victim recalled how she “froze through fear” after waking to find Fox assaulting her, and waited until he fell asleep to escape.

The second victim recounted waking to find Fox in what appeared to be “a trance”, “spooning” her with his hands inside her underwear less than a year after the first assault.

The sexual assault victim told Fox:” What you did to me is unforgivable. I never thought I would have to take a break from university, I thought I was stronger than that, but this has taken it out of me.”

A Nottingham Trent spokesperson said: “We stand against all forms of sexual violence and harassment and want everyone in the NTU community to always feel safe and secure here. Where any incidents are reported to us we investigate promptly, support those involved and take decisive action.

“We have a programme of year-round initiatives, including our Respect and Consent campaign – run in partnership with the students’ union – where we provide a range of guidance and advice and set out the expectations of behaviour for our community. We have a consent training programme for all first-year students, essential staff training for when a student discloses an incident of sexual violence and sexual violence liaison officers who are trained to provide students with specialist support.

“We will continue to work with our students’ union and student and colleague networks on additional measures to ensure our university is a safe place to study and work.”

Featured image via Nottinghamshire Police.

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