He has pleaded not guilty during the case, and on the spot he appealed the verdict to the Eastern High Court.
The case is one of the first rape cases after the rape provision in the Penal Code has been changed to be based on lack of consent.
In connection with the sentencing, President of the Court Peder Johannes Christensen only commented briefly on the issue of consent.
– Based on the information that has emerged, no consent has been given at all, he said, but without going into the extent to which the change in the law has had an impact on the decision on the question of guilt.
However, there has been no question in the case that the woman should have said no to the man. She was asleep when the intercourse took place, but has not given her consent.
Precisely cases where the victim has acted passively are mentioned in the draft legislation for the amendment to the law on rape, which came into force at the turn of the year.
According to the new provision, rape is involved if there is no consent. In the past, coercion should have been used, or the victim should have been in a state unable to say no.
Whether the case against the 26-year-old would have ended in the same way under the old provision is unknown. But the court has chosen to impose the sentence on the same scale as in a case where the victim was unable to say no, as it was called in the old provision.
The rape in the current case took place early in the morning on January 10 in the small town of Hørve in Odsherred. Here the 26-year-old had been to a small party with a friend.
At the party were two sisters. The big sister lived in the city and had the little sister, the victim of the case, visit.
During the night, the 26-year-old left the apartment where the company was at the time. He was going to spend the night with his big sister.
Here, however, the little sister lay asleep. She had been put to bed earlier in the evening because she was drunk and had vomited.
The 26-year-old lay in bed next to his little sister. She was explained that she woke up during the night. First knowing she was affected and later knowing she was raped. When she woke up, the 26-year-old stopped, she said.
Then she called her big sister, who immediately came home. The 26-year-old was thrown out of the house. He continued to sleep outside – he was sitting in his car – until he was arrested a good hour later.
The 26-year-old has pleaded not guilty during the case. He admits that there has been intercourse, but he does not remember it. He has claimed that he must have done it in his sleep and therefore did not have intent.
But the court did not buy that explanation:
– We can not assume that you should have done something you were not aware of. said presiding judge Peder Johannes Christensen at the sentencing.
The 26-year-old must remain in custody until the Eastern High Court has processed the appeal. The man demands to be acquitted.
Source: The Nordic Page