Sentencing — sexual violation — unlawful sexual connection — rape — sexsomnia — Sentencing Act 2002 — R v AM (CA27/2009) [2010] NZCA 114, [2010] 2 NZLR 750 — Tahiri v R [2013] NZCA 73. The defendant appeared for sentence, having been found guilty by a jury on one charge of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, and one of sexual violation by rape. It was established that the defendant had been at a party with the victim, where the victim had fallen asleep and then woken up to the defendant inserting his finger and then his penis into the victim's genitalia. At trial, the defendant had put forward a defence of sexsomnia, submitting that he had been asleep when the offending occurred. This was rejected by the jury. In setting a starting point, the Court took into consideration the sentencing principles and the guideline case for sexual offending, R v AM. The Court set a starting point of eight years' imprisonment. The Court considered whether there were any aggravating or mitigating factors personal to the defendant, and found there were none. On the charge of rape the Court sentenced the defendant to eight years' imprisonment, and on the charge of unlawful sexual connection, three years' imprisonment. The terms were to be served concurrently, so the total sentence was one of eight years' imprisonment. NB: this judgment has been appealed to the Court of Appeal [2023] NZCA 342, which is currently on appeal before the Supreme Court.