Abusive husband routinely raped wife, judge finds

A husband routinely raped his wife after forcing her to take cocaine in the home they lived in with their three children, a judge found.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead brought the case to court after the mother and the children left the family home and were moved to a confidential address last year.

Family court judge Richard Case found the father strangled his wife until she lost consciousness in the summer of 2013 and other serious abuse continued over the years.

Judge Case found the father's evidence at times "lacked all plausibility".

He also lied under oath when he claimed his wife had frequently assaulted their children, the judge said.

The father was also found to have coerced his wife into taking cocaine from 2023 "as a means of facilitating non-consensual sexual activity" on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

He was also found to have taken pictures of his wife taking cocaine and then attempted to further coerce her by threatening to disclose them.

Their children's attendance at school was found to be poor by authorities and their home smelled of cannabis, Slough's family court heard.

The father was found to have been abusive to social workers and police and told one council worker that she would be "destroyed".

His "coercive and controlling behaviour" caused the children harm and left his wife "unable to prioritise the [children's] needs", the judge said.

He found that on the balance of probabilities the father's behaviour had "created an atmosphere in the home inimical to the welfare of the children" following hearings in January and this month.

He found the father said, in the presence of the children, that his wife was a "psycho", "narcissistic" and a thief.

None of the family can be named for legal reasons.

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