Man convicted of raping wife at Central Criminal Court

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A man was convicted of raping his wife at the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 30 June 2016.

The rape occurred on 25 May 2014. He was also convicted of threatening to cut her face immediately beforehand and threatening to kill her over the phone the following day.

Jurors did not reach verdicts on charges that he head-butted his wife in May 2014 or threatened serious harm during a meeting about custody of their son in early August 2014. The jury had previously been instructed to return a not-guilty verdict on a fifth threat charge.

He had pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife with a hammer. That assault occurred on 7 August 2014. He pleaded not guilty to rape, assault causing harm and five counts of threats to kill or cause serious harm. The report placed those disputed charges between 24 May and 1 August 2014.

His defence counsel suggested that disputes over ownership of their house or custody of their son, or feelings of bitterness or revenge, might explain the allegations.

Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy ordered that he be registered as a sex offender and remanded him in custody for sentencing on 18 July.