'Sexsomniac' RAF man sobs as he is cleared of raping girl in his sleep

Senior Aircraftsman Kenneth Ecott, 26, broke down in tears after a jury took two hours to agree that he was not responsible for his actions.

Ecott did not deny having sex with the girl but said he had no memory of it happening.

Instead he insisted he had a condition known as 'sexsomnia' in which sufferers carry out indecent acts in their sleep.

It was this rare affliction which caused him to climb naked on top of the girl during a friend's birthday party sleepover, Bournemouth Crown Court was told.

The teenager screamed when she awoke. Ecott was said to have confessed to the girl's family and apologised for having sex with her. But when he was arrested later that day in his barracks at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, he told police he was prone to sleepwalking.

He claimed to have been in a state of 'automatism' while with the girl, meaning he was not aware of his actions.

This defence was supported by his girlfriend, who told the court that he had fondled her in bed while asleep.

The court was told that Ecott downed a a bottle of vodka last November at the party in Poole, Dorset, where guests slept on air beds in the living room.

The girl woke at 3am to find Ecott laying naked on top of her, screamed, then watched as he slowly got up and walked into the garden.

During his five-day trial, Ecott, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said: "I was drunk and went to sleep, then I woke up and my life was over. I was standing outside, completely naked, wondering what the hell I was doing there.

"Everyone was asking, 'What have you done?' Sleep-walking is the only rational explanation for what I did."

Ecott said he had gained a reputation in the RAF for sleep walking and had the nickname Night Rider printed on a T-shirt.

Dr Irshaad Ebrahim, medical director of the London Sleep Centre, said factors such as tiredness, alcohol and stress can increase the chances of sexsomnia. 'Mr Ecott had recently come across from Afghanistan and had symptoms of jet lag and sleep deprivation. He had an excessive amount of drink during the course of the night.

"They were also sleeping so close to each other, someone could have kicked him or nudged him to precipitate an episode."

Ecott's girlfriend Georgina Dewdney recalled a number of occasions where she woke to find her partner "trying it on" with her while he slept. "On New Year's Eve we got into bed and he put his hand down the back of my pyjama bottoms and grabbed me.

"It made me jump and woke me up. When I told him about it the next morning his face went white and he was shocked. He said sorry, he didn't mean it and couldn't remember.

"Another time a couple of months later he put his arm around me and grabbed my boob. I moved his hand and turned around to looked at him but he was asleep."

The 40-year-old mother of the 15-year-old said she was shocked by the verdict.

"We just feel totally numb by it all. I don't believe that he was sleepwalking. I don't know what was going through his head.

"What worries and concerns me is that this verdict has given him a new lease of life to go and do it again to somebody else."