Film student, 30, who tried to claim he ‘accidentally had sex with woman while they were both asleep’ is convicted of string of sex attacks

A former film student who repeatedly raped two women and sexually assaulted a third while they slept has been warned he could face a life sentence.

Connor Yaxley, 30, claimed he was ‘dreaming’ when he had sex with two women and was not aware he had done so, he said.

After a nine-day trial at Norwich Crown Court, he was found guilty of all charges.

Yaxley, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, denied three charges of rape against one woman between December 2017 and December 2019, two charges of rape against a second woman between April 2018 and August 2020, and sexually assaulting a third woman in August 2020.

The jury took only six hours to find him guilty on all counts.

Yaxley was found guilty of all charges after a nine-day trial at Norwich Crown Court. The first victim told the court that Yaxley had used the excuse that he was asleep on multiple occasions.

The first victim told the court that Yaxley had used the excuse that he was asleep on several occasions.

Another woman described how she twice woke from a deep sleep to find Yaxley having sex with her, despite her having previously told him she did not want sex.

During the trial, prosecutor Andrew Thompson stressed that consent requires freedom and capacity, neither of which is possible when a person is asleep.

He argued that Yaxley’s actions indicated that he refused to take ‘no’ for an answer, describing his behaviour as that of a rapist.

Judge Andrew Shaw, presiding over the case, described the offences as “extremely serious”.

Judge Shaw said he had “grave concerns” about Yaxley and would consider not only a “very long prison sentence” but “potentially a life sentence”.

The first woman told the court that Yaxley repeatedly told her that the sex had happened while he was dreaming.

Another time, she claimed the former film student told her he accidentally penetrated her while they were both asleep.

At the time of the attacks he was studying film at the University of Suffolk, based at East Coast College in Great Yarmouth. Despite his claims in court that all sexual encounters were consensual, the jury unanimously rejected his defence

The other rape victim testified in a recorded police interview that she woke up twice from a “deep sleep” and saw Yaxley having sex with her.

The woman testified in court behind a screen and said the second time it happened was after she slept with Yaxley and told him she didn’t want sex.

The woman claimed that she tended to sleep deeply and that it took her time to wake up and understand what was happening.

When she came to, she realized that Yaxley had had sex with her without her consent.

She told the court: ‘I thought he was asleep and I woke him up and asked him why? He said he couldn’t remember and that he had done it in his dreams and that he was sorry and that he didn’t know what he was doing.’

During cross-examination, she was asked if she accepted his explanation when he said the sex had taken place while he was asleep. She replied: ‘Then I accepted it.’

On a third occasion, she said she woke up to find Yaxley playing intimately with her and that she then consented to sex.

She said she only realized his actions were wrong when she talked to a friend about it.

According to prosecutor Andrew Thompson, Yaxley also told police in an interview that he did things “without his knowledge because he was dreaming at the time.”

Yaxley also told officers that he often had bad dreams and that he had sex with one of the women upon waking up.

The court heard he also sexually assaulted a third woman by touching her intimately while she slept on a chair in his home.

Mr Thompson described the alleged incident in August 2020 as “unwanted touching that was clearly sexual in nature”.

The prosecutor said that someone can only consent to sex if he or she “chooses to do so” and if he or she has the “freedom and ability to make that choice.”

He added that a sleeping woman – “the same as an unconscious woman” – cannot consent to sexual acts that take place “while she is asleep.”

Mr Thompson told the jury that when Yaxley wants something he ‘doesn’t take no for an answer’.

He added: ‘This is a person who can’t control himself and doesn’t see sleeping women as a reason to control himself. We call that the behavior of a rapist.’

After the verdict, Yaxley was taken into custody.

At the time of the attacks he was studying film at the University of Suffolk, based at East Coast College in Great Yarmouth.

Despite his claims in court that all sexual encounters were consensual, the jury unanimously rejected his defense.