Waterford man guilty of sexually assaulting woman while she slept
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty on one count of sexual assault following the trial at Waterford Circuit Court.
A Waterford man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman after a week-long trial at Waterford Circuit Court.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty on one count of sexual assault, and not guilty on another count of sexual assault.
The victim, a young woman, was attending a work party with her colleagues at a local pub in County Waterford in late 2021.
The man was also in attendance, as he was friends with some of her colleagues.
CCTV footage showed that the man and woman were introduced to one another and exchanged words of greetings.
Later footage showed them both briefly dancing together.
At around midnight, most of the attendees had left the pub, to go to a house party near the work premises.
The woman had become incapacitated in the female bathroom, passing out in the middle cubicle.
She was discovered by staff at the pub, with one man seeing that a slumped-over figure was in the stall.
He told the court that he went to get the help of his female colleague.
The woman eventually regained consciousness, with the help of the staff, who dropped her home soon afterwards.
At the time, the woman was staying near her premises of work.
Close by, the man and multiple other people, including the woman's colleagues, were having an after party at a house.
The bar staff workers told her to be careful walking up the steps and advised her to "sleep on her side" in case she got sick again.
When she got in, she brought a portable heater into one bedroom for her friend, who was staying the night. Her friend's boyfriend was also staying over.
After this, she put on a hoodie and tracksuit pajama bottoms and went to bed. She told the court: "I slept like a log."
She told the court that she awoke around 5.30am to find the man performing oral sex on her.
She told him to stop, eventually shouting at him to "get the f**k out".
The next morning se told her friend what had happened, saying: "I think I was sexually assaulted."
She also told another colleague a day later, before calling her sister about the assault.
Her sister quickly travelled to her location to help escort her to the Garda Station.
The woman also went to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at UHW.
Defence counsel asked her how she was able to sleep while the man was removing her clothing. She said: "I didn't wake up."
The man claimed that after the house party, he came into the place where the woman was staying, which was familiar to him through his friends, and entered the woman's room.
He claimed that they had a consensual sexual encounter, but she soon told him to leave as "they were going too fast".
During deliberation, Judge Eugene O'Kelly advised the jury on 'mens rea' i.e: criminal intent.
He said: "Consent must be freely and consciously given. The question of consent cannot be given when a person is asleep and therefore unconscious."
The jury of seven men and five women eventually returned their verdicts. After both verdicts had been given, the man was taken into custody. He will be sentenced on October 15, 2024.
