Man acquitted of 'sleepwatching' gets 5 years for break-in

A Dartmouth, N.S., man was sentenced to five years in prisontoday for break and enter after being acquitted in November of five voyeurism charges.

Barry Edward Sinclair, 51, will get credit for time-served in custodyfor his five-year sentence starting from March 1, 2012.

Sinclair was found guilty of breaking into a south-end Halifax home a year and a half ago. His cellphone was found in a mop bucket in a woman's apartment.

Prior to Sinclair's arrest, more than a dozen women in Halifax's south end reported they woke up in their homes to find a man watching or touching them.

The man was given the moniker the "sleepwatcher."

During the trial, the Crown presented a video seized from Sinclair's home of recordings of women undressing in their apartments.

While the judge accepted there was a second break-in, he questioned the evidence used to tie Sinclair to the crime.

A woman told court she woke to find a man in her bedroom, his mouth open as he stared at her. But the 22-year-old did not pick Sinclair when she examined a police lineup.