The sister of a woman who claims she was raped by a friend while she slept has told his trial that the same man once kissed her while she was sleeping.

The man, who cannot be identified, told Gardaí he was sleepwalking at the time of the alleged rape and does not know what happened.

The man, who is aged 29, is accused of raping the woman at an apartment in Dublin after a night out in September 2008.

The court heard they were good friends and shared a bed that night.

She said she was fully dressed when she fell asleep and awoke to find him having sex with her.

A stranger took her in after spotting her sitting outside a nearby petrol station. She said she was “distraught” and thought it was her fault.

A few days later, the man’s mother told her mother that her son had a problem with sleepwalking since he was young and that he had since been looking up “sleep sex” on the internet.

The woman’s sister was a college friend of the accused. She told the jury he once kissed her while she was asleep.

She said she woke up and told him she was not interested and that he apologised.

The man claims he has no recollection of what happened and that he was effectively sleepwalking.