A man who was drunk and on drugs at his work Christmas party has been jailed for breaking into a motel room and sexually assaulting a sleeping woman.

The Adelaide District Court heard Michael Ian John McManus, 26, could not remember committing the crime at a Modbury North motel in December 2012.

He broke in through a window while a couple was asleep and removed the woman’s underwear and assaulted her, all the while laughing.

McManus also stole cash and other belongings including a wallet and a handbag.

Security vision showed him leaving the scene.

McManus was jailed for three years and four months, with a non-parole term of 15 months.

Pills and alcohol consumed before crime

Judge Jack Costello says the man earlier swallowed three anti-depressants, two ecstasy pills and consumed a large volume of alcohol.

“I accept that you have no memory of what you did during that night or during the early hours of the next morning. Apparently you blacked out,” the judge said.
“Later that morning you regained consciousness to find yourself on the ground outside the Christmas party venue.”

Judge Costello described McManus’s actions as “bizarre in the extreme”.

“This must have been a terrifying and degrading episode for this couple,” he said.

“Both your victims were absolutely vulnerable.”

The court heard McManus had failed to cope with breaking up with his girlfriend months earlier and had a daughter from that relationship.