Jade McCrossen-Nethercott receives apology from UK prosecution service for failings which led to case being closed and defendant acquitted

A woman has been awarded £35,000 in compensation from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after her rape case was dropped over claims that she could have had an episode of a rare sleep condition called sexsomnia.

Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, 32, contacted police in 2017, when she was 24, after waking up to discover she was half-naked, and with the sense that she had been raped while she slept.

Three years later – and days before the man charged with raping her was due to stand trial – lawyers from the CPS said her case was being dropped because two sleep experts said it was possible McCrossen-Nethercott had had an episode of sexsomnia – a medically recognised, but rare, sleep disorder which can cause a person to engage in sexual acts in their sleep, while appearing to be awake and consenting. The case was closed and the defendant acquitted.

In 2022, McCrossen-Nethercott sued the CPS after it admitted her rape case should not have been dropped. Now, the BBC has reported that she has been paid £35,000 by the CPS, which said it had “apologised unreservedly” to her and was “committed to improving every aspect of how life-changing crimes like rape are dealt with”.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      352·
      1 year ago

      When McCrossen-Nethercott made her statement, she was asked about her sleep, and said she had always been a deep sleeper and had sleepwalked a couple of times as a teenager.

      When the case was dropped, McCrossen-Nethercott requested all the evidence and was shocked by the weight given to evidence from sleep experts who had never met her.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
          229·
          1 year ago

          How about you believe women rather than come up with convoluted reasons for why they might not have been raped?

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
              92·
              1 year ago

              This part. Where you came up for a ridiculous reason why it might not have been rape:

              The man may have raped her. however, why didn’t he run away sooner. Usually perpetrators escape after the abuse.

        • JacksonLamb@lemmy.worldEnglish
          21·
          1 year ago

          why didn’t he run away sooner? Usually perpetrators escape after the abuse

          No, they don’t. Statistically the majority of rapes are by people who know the victim personally. In cases of intimate partner rape the perpetrator does not typically “run away from” his wife or girlfriend etc afterwards.

        • mosiacmango@lemm.eeEnglish
          11·
          1 year ago

          I confronted him saying, ‘What’s happened? What have you done?’ And he said something a bit odd I guess, but he did say ‘I thought you were awake’. And he just bolted out basically, and left the door open,” she told the BBC. She called a friend in distress, and police arrived and took her for forensic tests. Vaginal swabs detected semen which would later be matched to the man.

          He did run away when confronted.

            • mosiacmango@lemm.eeEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              You think rapists are perfectly rational actors? They only make good decisions?

              There are tons of reasons rapists think they can get away with rape. He clearly had one in mind until she confronted him directly.