Woman whose rape case was dropped after ‘sexsomnia’ claim awarded £35k payout

A woman has been awarded £35,000 in compensation after her rape case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) amid claims she could have had an episode of sexsomnia.

Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, 32, contacted police in 2017 after waking up at a friend’s house in south London following a night out half-naked with a feeling she had been assaulted in her sleep.

After waiting three years for her case to get to trial, lawyers at the CPS dropped it with just days to spare after experts instructed by her alleged attacker claimed she could have had sexsomnia – a medically recognised, but rare, condition characterised by engaging in sexual acts while asleep – despite having never met or even spoken to her.

The case was closed – and the suspect acquitted – without her lawyers being able to test the assertion before a jury. It cannot be reopened unless compelling new evidence comes to light.

Jade sued the CPS in 2022 after it admitted the case should have gone to trial and a chief prosecutor not involved in the original decision commenting it was ‘more likely than not’ the suspect would have been convicted.

Speaking to the BBC, she said the CPS has ‘taken me to the darkest points of my life’ and that it felt ‘like a big triumph to be able to hold them accountable’.

Kate Ellis, joint litigation lead at the Centre for Women’s Justice, said claims brought by victims against the CPS are ‘difficult’ legally, and described payouts as being ‘extremely rare’.

Describing the alleged attack in the BBC programme Sexsomnia: Case Closed?, Jade said she woke at 5am and confronted the accused, saying: ‘What’s happened? What have you done?’

She went on: ‘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.’

Jade described the decision to drop the case as being ‘more damaging’ than the alleged attack itself (Picture: BBC)

Jade reported it to police within hours and vaginal swabs detected semen which were later matched to the man, who offered no comment during his subsequent interview with officers.

In her own statement, she briefly mentioned being a deep sleeper and sleepwalking a few times when she was a teen.

It was not mentioned again until the days leading up to the trial date when the sleep experts submitted their report saying they could not rule out an isolated episode of sexsomnia.

Jade described the decision to drop the case as being ‘more damaging’ than the alleged attack itself, saying it had turned her world ‘upside down’.

‘For me it’s not about the financial side of things. I’m very much wanting to push for systemic changes with the CPS and the legal system advocating for better training, policies, procedures and practices,’ she told the BBC after successfully suing.

‘It has taken a lot from me, but I held on to a lot of positives. I am really proud of the work that both myself and the Centre for Women’s Justice have done to get to this point.’

A spokesperson for the CPS said: ‘A settlement has been reached with Ms McCrossen-Nethercott, to whom we have apologised unreservedly, and we continue to wish her the very best going forward.

‘We remain positive about the progress being made and recognise there is still a long way to go to improve outcomes for victims, so more people can come forward and report with confidence.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.