Accused cleared of sex assault... because he was sleepwalking

A MAN accused of groping a woman has been cleared after he was found to have been sleepwalking at the time.

Gerard Bryceland touched the female inappropriately at his flat in Glasgow in August last year.

The woman ‘froze’ as she and her partner woke up in the night to find Bryceland in bed beside them.

Bryceland claimed he was sleepwalking. The 53-year-old was acquitted of the sex assault charge after a sheriff accepted a psychiatrist’s view that his condition was a ‘mental disorder’.

The special defence stated: ‘A person is not criminally responsible for conduct constituting an offence, and is to be acquitted of the offence, if the person was at the time of the conduct unable by reason of mental disorder to appreciate the nature or wrongfulness of the conduct.’

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard Bryceland, pictured, his wife and the couple had gone out before returning to the flat.

Prosecutor Chris Farrell told the court the pair went to sleep in Bryceland’s spare bedroom. He said: ‘The woman said she was frozen and woke up to find a hand on her breast.

‘Buttons on her pyjamas were undone and his hand moved down to her thigh area.’ Mr Farrell said the woman was then touched inappropriately by Bryceland. Her partner woke and grabbed Bryceland, who ‘rose quickly, almost immediately and sprung out of bed’. Mr Farrell added: ‘He walked out to the hallway laughing.’ The couple did not report the incident to police until ten days later. Bryceland, who runs a timber firm, consulted psychiatrist Saduf Riaz who diagnosed his sleepwalking condition.

The court heard that he had been sleepwalking since childhood and it can be triggered by alcohol use and anxiety.

Lawyer Ann Ritchie, defending, said: ‘He was horrified and shocked about what happened and wanted to apologise to both of them.

‘The psychiatrist said he was worried about it and depressed.’

Sheriff Charles Lugton said: ‘I find that the special defence has been established. This was a serious incident as a result of your sleepwalking which is a condition.’

The terms of Bryceland’s special defence, of having a mental disorder, resulted in him being placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years. The sheriff added: ‘It is appropriate to consider the need to protect the public following on from your acquittal.’