Woman receives ‘rare’ compensation after rape case dropped

A woman has received £35,000 in compensation after her rape claim was dropped because it was claimed she may have suffered an episode of “sexsomnia”.

Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, 32, contacted police in 2017 and told them she believed she had been raped in her sleep. She said she woke up half-naked and found her necklace broken on the floor.

However, the charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) days before the trial was due to begin after the alleged perpetrator's lawyers claimed that Jade suffered from sexsomnia – a medically recognised but rare sleep disorder that causes a person to perform sexual acts while asleep.

Jade has since received compensation from the CPS and said they had “apologised unreservedly”.

It went on to say that it was “committed to improving every aspect of how life-changing crimes like rape are dealt with.”

Jade said the CPS had taken her “to the darkest points of my life” and it “felt like a huge triumph to be able to hold them accountable.”

Her lawyers at the Centre for Women's Justice said it was “extremely rare” for the CPS to make such a payout.

In 2017, Jade woke up on a sofa after a night out with friends feeling like she had been raped in her sleep. Within hours, she reported it to the police. The suspect made no comment when questioned and prosecutors decided to charge him with rape.

But in 2020, just days before the trial was due to begin, prosecutors informed Jade that her rape case would not go to trial because the defense had claimed she had suffered an episode of sexsomnia.

The CPS said two sleep experts gave their opinion on the case after Jade was questioned about her sleeping habits during a police interview. Neither of the experts had met or spoken to Jade.

Jade said she does not have sexsomnia, but sleep experts have not ruled out the possibility that she may have had a one-off seizure the night of the incident.

Although the defendant never appeared before a jury, he was formally acquitted, meaning the case could not be reopened without compelling new evidence.

In 2021, Jade appealed through the CPS Victims’ Rights Scheme. In response, she received a letter of apology from a Chief Prosecutor independent of the CPS department, who original decision to discontinue proceedings.

They admitted that the prosecution had made a mistake in closing their case, as it should have gone to trial instead.

Jade described the CPS's decisions during this time as “more damaging” to her than the night of the incident and said the court case had “turned her world upside down”.

She said her decision to sue the CPS was motivated by a desire to demand accountability and ensure that “similar mistakes [were] in such rape cases will not happen again.”

“For me, it's not about the financial side of things. I'm really keen to drive systemic change in CPS and the legal system and advocate for better training, policies, procedures and practices,” she said.

She added: “It's taken a lot out of me, but I've held on to a lot of positive things. I'm really proud of the work that both I and the Centre for Women's Justice have done to get to this point.”

Kate Ellis, head of litigation at the Centre for Women's Justice, said claims brought by victims against the CPS were legally “difficult” and compensation payments “extremely rare”.

She said Jade's case was the first she knew of in which prosecutors had awarded compensation to a rape victim because the case was dismissed before trial.

“The fact that we were able to win this claim is testament to the seriousness of the failure on the part of the CPS,” she added.

In the year to March 2024, 65,913 cases of rape were recorded by police in England and Wales (excluding Devon and Cornwall Police). Of these cases, only 2.6% have so far resulted in a suspect being charged or receiving a summons, according to Home Office figures.

A CPS spokesman said: “An agreement has been reached with Ms McCrossen-Nethercott. We have apologised unreservedly to her and wish her all the best for the future.”

“We remain optimistic about the progress made, but we recognise that we still have a long way to go to improve the situation for victims so that more people can confidently speak out.”

Jade said she was still waiting to hear from CPS about what lessons they had learned from her case, and hoped her story would encourage others to speak out.

“We need to hold these agencies accountable and we have now done so,” she added.

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