Rapist who claimed he had a sleep disorder was jailed

A man who claimed he suffered from a sleep disorder which meant he didn’t know what he was doing when he raped and attacked two women has been jailed.

Luke Fox, 24, from Merseyside, was studying at Nottingham Trent University when he attacked two other students in separate incidents.

A jury rejected his parasomnia defense and found him guilty of rape and assault by penetration.

He was sentenced to ten years in prison at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday.

Fox, of Hesketh Road, Southport, was told he would have to spend two-thirds of his sentence in prison and remain under supervision for the rest, as well as being placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

The court heard he was 20 years old when he raped his first victim as she slept after a party on a university campus.

Judge Michael Auty KC said the victim was “particularly vulnerable” due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed.

He quoted her as saying: “I woke up to him raping me.”

About a year later, Fox attacked his second victim, this time outside the university campus.

She was also asleep at the time and woke up to Fox’s hands in her clothes, the judge said.

Fox’s first victim said in her statement that she continues to suffer from “trust issues,” adding, “I panic when people get too close.”

She also said she had to interrupt her studies.

Sentencing Fox, the judge said: “What you did to this woman was absolutely unforgivable.”

Referring to Fox’s claims of parasomnia, he said: “I find it disturbing that it was only after the events surrounding (the second victim) that you began to seriously look at it.”

He added that Fox had “shown grace and dignity in acknowledging the terrible impact your behavior” likely caused his victims.