Army veteran ‘raped woman soldier in his sleep’ after returning from six-month Afghanistan tour
Peter Atilla, 46, told a court he could not remember having sex with his alleged victim
AN Army veteran accused of raping an ex-soldier claimed he was sleepwalking and could not remember having sex, a court heard today.
Peter Atilla, 46, denies attacking the woman on the day he returned from a six-month tour in Afghanistan.
Jurors heard the warrant officer, who served with the Royal Logistics Corps for 26 years, told cops: “I have a bad recollection of it.
“Maybe I was sleepwalking.”
Atilla became a reservist after leaving the Army in 2006 and was posted to Afghanistan on attachment with the SAS in 2012.
On his return in 2013, the woman agreed to spend the night with him.
But prosecutor Dyfed Thomas said: “She said he could sleep in her bed and was happy to have a cuddle.
“But she made it clear they were not going to have sex.
“She fell asleep with Atilla cuddled up behind her.
“She was woken by her baby crying and realised she was naked with Atilla on top of her.
"His eyes were open, he was biting his lower lip and he was sweating.”
The jury was told that had Atilla managed to remove the woman’s pyjamas and have sex without her waking up.
His alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “I woke up to see him looking down at me like he was doing press-ups.
“I was so shocked, it felt like hours but it was seconds.”
Asked why she did not wake sooner, she said: “I don’t know why.
";It happened, I have no explanation as to why it happened.”
She also said Atilla had returned from Afghanistan “angry and was drinking and smoking heavily”.
Her mother told Merthyr Tydfil crown court that Atilla said to her the next day: “I f***ed up.
“I raped her.”
The woman went to cops three years after the alleged rape as it brought back memories of being sexually abused as a child, jurors heard.
Mr Thomas added: “Atilla was arrested and raised the issue of whether he had been sleeping at the time.
"Sleepwalking is really a very weak assertion in this case.”
The court also heard that Atilla was confronted by the woman the day after the incident and told her that he was asleep, adding: “I don’t remember any of it.”
And he told police: “If she said it happened, it happened.
“But I can’t remember.”
Atilla, of Northampton, denies the rape in 2013.
The trial continues.