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”.
“Sorry we fucked your life up and let your alleged rapist free, here’s probably not even a years worth of pay to compensate”
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.
Wow… that was indeed quite the fuck up. “I herd u can fuk wen slippin” and it was dismissed. Amazing.
That’s sort of whack that they’d issue that diagnosis on the grounds that she was a deep sleeper and had sleepwalked once or twice in her teens.
It boggles the mind that the first and seemingly only time she woke up wondering “did I have sex?” the experts just jumped to it being sexsomnia.
Personal confession: I experience it. Not diagnosed, but by the time I was 19, I knew. Since then it’s a part of the conversation I have with anyone I share a bed with. (And the folks I share a bed with also confirm that it happens. Lots of “Were you awake when…?” questions. Fortunately, no misunderstandings or upset feelings.)
I know everyone is different, but I feel she is the best judge of herself. It’s already established that the experts were wrong and CPS reacted inappropriately, but… ugh. You fucking know. Your partners tell you about it. You usually wake up during or just after.
I can’t imagine her loss or despair at being told people who never met her know her better than herself and thus she is going to be denied justice. Much less the rage that they let the man walk free on such a flimsy reasoning.That’s horrible, but I was relieved to learn that CPS doesn’t stand for, “ChIld Protective Services,” in the UK. I was expecting a much darker story when I clicked.
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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.
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How about you believe women rather than come up with convoluted reasons for why they might not have been raped?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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