4 Aug 2023
COOK v R [2023] NZCA 342
- Citation
- [2023] NZCA 342
- Court
- Court of Appeal
The Court held Cameron v R was binding and there was no cogent reason to reclassify sexsomnia as generally constituting sane automatism; accordingly the conviction stands. On sentence the Court found the victim's vulnerability and high level of harm justified placement in the lower end of rape band two but that premeditation and the scale aggravator were not established to the degree found by the judge; the appropriate starting point was seven years, so the eight year rape sentence was quashed and substituted with seven years while the concurrent three year sentence for unlawful sexual connec…