‘It sets a scary precedent’: Woman suing CPS after it dropped her rape case over claims she had sexsomnia

Published

3 years ago

October 7, 2022

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Thirteen days before the man accused of raping her was due to stand trial, Jade McCrossen-Nethercott was told her case was being dropped.

After a phone call from the police the day before, the then 24-year-old met with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

They told her that because she was asleep when the incident happened, two sleep experts employed by the defence team had claimed she could have suffered a random episode of ‘sexsomnia’ – and therefore the case was no longer viable.

Sexsomnia is a rare sleep condition that causes people to engage in sexual activity while unconscious.

In her police statement after the incident in 2017 she had briefly mentioned being a deep sleeper and sleepwalking a couple of times when she was a teenager – but in the three years since it had never been brought up again.

“It was the first I’d ever heard of it,” she told Sky News.

“I was trying to understand. It didn’t make any sense to me. It was baffling. I was completely shellshocked.”

Ms McCrossen-Nethercott had gone back to a friend’s house for a drink after a night out in south London when she woke up feeling as though she had been sexually assaulted.

She had fallen asleep on the sofa at around 2am and awoke roughly three hours later naked from the waist down and with her necklace broken on the floor.

A man, whose semen was later found on her vaginal swabs, was sat next to her on the sofa.

Asking him what had happened, he replied: “I thought you were awake.”

Ms McCrossen-Nethercott reported it to the police, underwent forensic testing, and the man was charged with rape.

He had offered no comment to police, pleaded not guilty at magistrates court and was due to appear at crown court in just under two weeks when the CPS discontinued the case.

“I made a few blasé comments to the police about sleepwalking when I was younger.

“They were clutching at straws, it was them panicking,” she said.

Sleep experts had never met or spoken to her

With the right to appeal the CPS’s decision she requested all the case documents, including those linked to the two sleep experts.

“Those two experts had never spoken to me on the phone – let alone met me in person,” Ms McCrossen-Nethercott said.

“Their decision was based on a 15-question questionnaire – and the defendant’s statement.

“It was so loosely drawn together – this ‘argument’ that I had sexsomnia.”

She then commissioned her own sleep expert, from the London Sleep Centre, to provide counterevidence.

He had never come across an alleged victim having the condition. In the UK only people accused of rape or sexual assault have alleged to have had it – using it as a defence.

The expert also explained it usually occurs in men – who have had a history of it before.

Sleep tests commissioned by him showed Ms McCrossen-Nethercott had mild sleep apnoea – when breathing briefly stops and starts again during sleep.

Because this has been identified as one of the triggers of sexsomnia, he said he couldn’t rule out an isolated episode.

“Sleep apnoea is so common a lot of people don’t even know they have it,” she said.

Determined to prove the CPS wrong, she turned to a lawyer instead.

According to the law in England and Wales, a person cannot consent to sex if they are asleep.

But someone cannot be found guilty of raping someone if they can prove they had “reasonable belief” the other person consented.

The lawyer, who had defended men in cases involving sexsomnia, claimed sleep and medical experts are never able to definitively prove someone has the disorder.

This means it could be used to convince a jury someone is not guilty.

Finally she submitted her appeal.

CPS review ruled decision was wrong

A retired crown prosecutor not involved in the original case concluded it should have gone to trial.

He said the sleep experts and the defendant’s claims of sexsomnia should have been cross-examined.

Ultimately he believed it was “more likely than not” the defendant would have been convicted by a jury.

But despite his verdict and an apology from the CPS, the case cannot be reopened, as the man was formally acquitted and there are laws against double jeopardy.

Ms McCrossen-Nethercott told Sky News that with just 1.3% of rape cases resulting in a prosecution in England and Wales, she did not expect the case to reach trial.

But when she was told there would be one, she says: “I was hopeful and optimistic.

“I felt confident in how I reported what had happened.”

With the help of the Centre for Women’s Justice, she has now submitted a letter of claim to sue the CPS on human rights grounds.

“The CPS let me down and they’re letting every other woman and girl down to,” she said.

“I did as much as I could and yet nothing can be done.

“It’s really hard to heal from something that makes no sense.”

After further communication with the CPS last year, the now 30-year-old was unable to work for six months due to mental ill-heath.

“Last year I had really bad dark times. But I’m in a better place now, with the support of my friends, family and my partner.”

A CPS spokesperson said in a statement: “We have apologised unreservedly to the victim in this case. The expert evidence and defendant’s account should have been challenged and put before a jury to decide.

“We are committed to improving every aspect of how life-changing crimes like rape are dealt with and are working closely with the police to transform how they are handled.

“We remain positive about the progress that is being made but recognise there is still a long way to go so more victims come forward and report with confidence.”

UK

How did your MP vote on Labour’s welfare bill?

Published

2 hours ago

July 1, 2025

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How did your MP vote on Labour's welfare bill?

Labour’s welfare reforms bill has passed, with 335 MPs voting in favour and 260 against.

It came after the government watered down the bill earlier this evening, making a dramatic last-minute concession to the demands of would-be rebel MPs who were concerned about the damage the policy would do to disabled people.

The concessions could end up leaving the government with £5.5bn to make up from either tax rises or cuts elsewhere.

See how your MP voted with our lookup:

The government has a working majority of 166, so it would have taken 84 rebels to defeat the bill.

In total, 49 Labour MPs still voted against the bill despite the concessions. No MPs from other parties voted alongside the government, although three MPs elected for Labour who have since had the whip removed did so.

Which Labour MPs rebelled?

Last week, 127 Labour MPs signed what they called a “reasoned amendment”, a letter stating their objection to the bill as it was.

The government responded with some concessions to try and win back the rebels, which was enough to convince some of them. But they were still ultimately forced to make more changes today.

In total, 68 MPs who signed the initial “reasoned amendment” eventually voted in favour of the bill.

Nine in 10 MPs elected for the first time at the 2024 general election voted with the government.

That compares with fewer than three quarters of MPs who were voted in before that.

A total of 42 Labour MPs also voted in favour of an amendment that would have stopped the bill from even going to a vote at all. That was voted down by 328 votes to 149.

How does the rebellion compare historically?

If the wording of the bill had remained unchanged and 127 MPs or more had voted against it on Tuesday, it would have been up there as one of the biggest rebellions in British parliamentary history.

As it happened, it was still higher than the largest recorded during Tony Blair’s first year as PM, when 47 of his Labour colleagues (including Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn, who also voted against the bill on Tuesday) voted no to his plan to cut benefits for single-parent families.

Follow more updates live on the Sky News Politics Hub.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

UK

Ryland Headley: Man, 92, who raped and murdered Louisa Dunne in Bristol nearly 60 years ago, jailed for life

Published

11 hours ago

July 1, 2025

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Ryland Headley: Man, 92, who raped and murdered Louisa Dunne in Bristol nearly 60 years ago, jailed for life

A 92-year-old man has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years in prison for the rape and murder of an elderly widow nearly 60 years ago.

Ryland Headley was found guilty on Monday of killing 75-year-old Louisa Dunne at her Bristol home in June 1967, in what is thought to be the UK’s longest cold case to reach trial, and has been told by the judge he “will die in prison”.

The mother-of-two’s body was found by neighbours after Headley, then a 34-year-old railway worker, forced his way inside the terraced house in the Easton area before attacking her.

Police found traces of semen and a palm print on one of the rear windows inside the house – but it was about 20 years before DNA testing.

The case remained unsolved for more than 50 years until Avon and Somerset detectives sent off items from the original investigation and found a DNA match to Headley.

He had moved to Suffolk after the murder and served a prison sentence for raping two elderly women in 1977.

Prosecutors said the convictions showed he had a “tendency” to break into people’s homes at night and, in some cases, “target an elderly woman living alone, to have sex with her despite her attempts to fend him off, and to threaten violence”.

Headley, from Ipswich, who did not give evidence, denied raping and murdering Ms Dunne, but was found guilty of both charges after a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

Detectives said forces across the country are investigating whether Headley could be linked to other unsolved crimes.

Mrs Dunne’s granddaughter, Mary Dainton, who was 20 when her relative was killed, told the court that her murder “had a big impact on my mother, my aunt and her family.

“I don’t think my mother ever recovered from it. The anxiety caused by her mother’s brutal rape and murder clouded the rest of her life.

“The fact the offender wasn’t caught caused my mother to become and remain very ill.

“When people found out about the murder, they withdrew from us. In my experience, there is a stigma attached to rape and murder.”

Finding out her grandmother’s killer had been caught after almost six decades “turned my life upside down,” she said.

“I feel sad and very tired, which has affected the relationships I have with those close to me. I didn’t expect to deal with something of such emotional significance at this stage of my life.

“It saddens me deeply that all the people who knew and loved Louisa are not here to see that justice has been done.”

After her statement, Mr Justice Sweeting told Mrs Dainton: “It is not easy to talk about matters like this in public.

“Thank you very much for doing it in such a clear and dignified way.”

The judge told Headley his crimes showed “a complete disregard for human life and dignity.

“Mrs Dunne was vulnerable, she was a small elderly woman living alone. You treated her as a means to an end.

“The violation of her home, her body and ultimately her life was a pitiless and cruel act by a depraved man.

“She must have experienced considerable pain and fear before her death,” he said.

Sentencing Headley to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years, the judge told him: “You will never be released, you will die in prison.”

Detective Inspector Dave Marchant of Avon and Somerset Police said Headley was “finally facing justice for the horrific crimes he committed against Louisa in 1967.

“The impact of this crime has cast a long shadow over the city and in particular Louisa’s family, who have had to deal with the sadness and trauma ever since.”

The officer praised Ms Dainton’s “resilience and courage” during what he called a “unique” case and thanked investigators from his own force, as well as South West Forensics, detectives from Suffolk Constabulary, the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Charlotte Ream, of the CPS, described Headley’s crimes as “appalling”.

She said Louisa Dunne “died in a horrifying attack carried out in the place where she should have felt safest – her own home.

“Mrs Dunne’s death continues to have a traumatic impact on her family members: the passage of time has not lessened their pain.

“For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice.”

Jeremy Benson KC, defending Headley, offered no personal mitigation on behalf of the defendant.

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Three members of Lucy Letby hospital’s senior leadership team arrested

Published

12 hours ago

July 1, 2025

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Three members of Lucy Letby hospital's senior leadership team arrested

Three managers at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

They were in senior roles at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 and have been bailed pending further enquiries, Cheshire Constabulary said. Their names have not been made public.

Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the hospital’s neonatal unit.

Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes explained that gross negligent manslaughter focuses on the “action or inaction of individuals”.

There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.

That focuses on “senior leadership and their decision-making”, Mr Hughes said. The intention there is to determine whether any “criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities”.

The scope was widened to include gross negligence manslaughter in March of this year.

Mr Hughes said it is “important to note” that this latest development “does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder”.

He added: “Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these.

“Our investigation into the deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital between the period of 2012 to 2016 is also ongoing.”

A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.

In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.

Earlier this year, lawyers for Lucy Letby called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.

In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.

Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.