A man accused of rape walked free on Monday after a jury decided he was fast asleep at the time.

Stephen Lee Davies, 43, said he suffered from sexsomnia - the ability to have sex while asleep - and had no recollection of fondling a 16-year-old college student.

He was backed up by an international sleep expert who said sufferers had no memory of what had happened during the night.

Davies told the jury that the following day he had to send text messages to the teenager asking her if they had had sex.

When she replied saying 'go to hell you dirty bastard', he panicked and asked his partner to ask her to explain.

Davies - who represents Wales at sea angling - dashed from Swansea Crown Court surrounded by well-wishers.

The verdict came after Davies's former wife told what it was like living - or sleeping - with a sexsomniac.

Angela Heather Davies said she used to joke with her then husband that she must be 'pretty rubbish' in bed because the next morning he could not even remember making love to her.

Miss Davies told Swansea Crown Court she met her husband-to-be when she was 19 and divorced 20 years later.

"He was a heavy sleeper, but we had a healthy sex life.

"From the outset, I would wake up in the early hours because his hands were all over me and he wanted sex.

"Sometimes I would push him away and sometimes we would have sex. In either case, he would not remember in the morning.

"It became a bit of a joke. I would say I must be pretty rubbish because he could not remember. Even if his eyes were open he would not remember.

"He could sit up and we would talk, but he could not remember it the next day.

"It would happen twice a month, but there was no pattern. It did not matter whether we had had sex already."

Miss Davies said she felt in control because Davies was asleep and she could decide whether to agree to sex.

"He was never violent and never forced me to have sex against my will. Sometimes his eyes were open, but there was no-one at home," she added.

Another former partner said she could have entire conversations with him, as well as full sexual intercourse, without him waking up.

Usually, she said, it happened when Davies was sleeping on his side.

"He would poke me in the back with his erect penis and intercourse would follow," she added.

The student had been staying overnight at Davies's home in Stranraer Road, Pembroke Dock. She became ill and during the night was told to sleep on Davies's bed because his room was cooler.

Davies said he was already fast asleep and had no idea she was there.

The student told the jury she woke to find herself lying on her side and Davies having sex with her from behind.

After his arrest, Davies, a painter and decorator, said he still didn't know if he had had intercourse with her.

Sleep expert Dr. Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre and founder of the British Sleep Society, said Davies showed all the signs of suffering from sexsomnia.

Jim Davis, prosecuting, claimed that Davies was not suffering an episode of sexsomnia at the time because he called the teenager a 'horny bitch' and even spoke her name.

Nor did it fit 'sexomnia' that after intercourse he had gone downstairs, boiled a kettle and returned to bed only to grope her boobs for a second time.

Davies, who said he always slept naked, said he was a deep sleeper and that his partners would confirm that sometimes they would have to tell him what he had done during the night.

Dr. Idzikowski said sexsomnia fell into the category of sleepwalking, which affected about four per cent of adults.

Sexsomnia affected far fewer people, but partly because they were less likely to go to their doctor and complain.

"A lot of people don't report sexsomnia, but we are recognising it more and more.

"It affects mainly men who are deep sleepers. It can involve almost any sort of sexual activity and could go on for 20 or 30 minutes.

"It is extremely unlikely they will have any memory because amnesia is associated with the condition. Less than one per cent might remember something. It tends to affect middle aged and older men.

"Sexsomnia is instinctive behaviour, they are not conscious at the time."

Dr. Idzikowski said he had studied all the evidence in the case and listened to witnesses and concluded that Davies suffered from the condition.

After the verdict, unanimous and returned within an hour, applause broke out from the public gallery.

Judge Paul Thomas thanked the jury for dealing with 'a particularly difficult case'.