Man jailed for sexual assault on sleeping woman

Paul McCormack was sentenced at Douglas Courthouse

A man who sexually assaulted a woman after a night out and took videos of her while she slept, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Paul McCormack, 47, attacked the woman in her own home during the early hours of 6 December 2020.

McCormack, of Castle Street in Peel, was issued with a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim and was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Handing down the sentence at Douglas Courthouse, Deemster Graeme Cook said: "You should be disgusted with yourself."

Douglas Courthouse heard the victim was asleep at home after a night out when McCormack assaulted her.

She woke up during the attack but "froze" as she was too afraid to fight him off, the court heard.

Videos of the victim taken around the time of the assault were found on his phone after it was seized by police.

'Nightmares and flashbacks'

After initially claiming it had been consensual, McCormack later pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said it had impacted both her personal life and professional life.

The court heard she suffered with anxiety and depression and had "nightmares and flashbacks" as a result of the attack.

Sentencing McCormack, Deemster Cook said the victim was "entitled to feel safe in her own home".

"She was asleep, intoxicated, and you decided to take videos of her in a state of undress", the deemster said.

"These offences to society and to the bench are abhorrent."

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