A woman who was raped following a night out told her husband only for DNA evidence to reveal he was her attacker.
The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, picked up his wife after a night out in Reading, Berkshire, and then raped her at their home as their children slept upstairs.
The following morning the woman, who had been drunk the night before, told her partner that while she could not remember much, she believed she had been raped.
The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, picked up his wife after a night out in Reading, Berkshire, and then raped her at their home (file picture)
Her husband urged her to contact the police but DNA evidence revealed he had been her rapist.
Reading Crown Court heard that earlier in the night the pair had rowed on the way to a friend’s barbecue and the woman had spent the night drinking in a bar before she was found in a drunken stupor.
The husband was called to collect her and found her in the town centre slumped on a bench.
Sentencing the husband, Judge Alexia Durran said: ‘On May 14 of last year at around 7pm you and your wife argued – you were on your way to a friend’s barbecue. Your wife stormed off and caught a bus to Reading town centre.’
Her husband urged her to contact the police but DNA evidence revealed he had been her rapist (file picture)
The judge said CCTV footage shows she went to a bar and drank a ‘considerable amount of alcohol’ before leaving ‘completely intoxicated’ at about 1am.
At 2am a member of the public called the man to say his wife was draped over a bench close to a major road.
The judge said: ‘In your evidence to the court and in your interview with police, you said she was very drunk, barely coherent and had trouble talking.
‘You drove her home and the inevitable conclusion of the jury was you then raped her while she was unable to consent, as a result of the alcohol she had consumed.’
The husband was yesterday jailed for seven years and ordered to sign onto the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
He was also made the subject of a restraining order, banning him from contacting his estranged wife, other than through solicitors.
The victim, who attended court, had described in a statement read to the court by the judge about feeling betrayed by the one person in the world she trusted the most.
Judge Alexia Durran said: ‘She described the total and utter shock upon finding out the person responsible was you, her husband.
‘Your marriage has broken down as a result and she had to move out of the home you shared together.’