Man convicted of raping wife kept diary of their sex life, appeal judges told

A man given an eight-year jail term after being convicted of raping his wife kept a diary recording “all the details” of their sex life, appeal judges heard.

The man, who was convicted of committing more than 20 rapes at Leicester Crown Court in March 2020, said he kept the diary “in case it should ever prove necessary to refer to it”.

Prosecutors argued that the man was “preparing for the day when his wife would eventually complain of rape.

Three appeal judges gave detail of the diary in a ruling dismissing the man’s appeal against his conviction on Friday.

Lady Justice Thirlwall, Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Mrs Justice Thornton had considered the appeal at a Court of Appeal hearing earlier this year.

The man had told a jury that he had kept a paper diary for many years, said Lady Justice Thirlwall in a written appeal court ruling.

“He had recorded all the details of his sex life with his wife, in case it should ever prove necessary to refer to it,” she said.

“It was the Crown’s case that in keeping the diary he was preparing for the day when his wife would eventually complain of rape.”

Judges were told that the man and woman were now divorced.

The woman had said the man had repeatedly raped her when they were married.

She said he was “aggressive” and had a number of sexual preferences which she found “abhorrent”.

The man had denied rape and was “adamant” that his wife had been a “willing participant in all of it”.

Appeal judges did not name the man and woman in their ruling and said the woman could not be identified in media reports of the case.