Wife discovered her husband was raping her in her sleep after finding videos on his phone of him abusing her

A man has been jailed for 9 years after his wife discovered he had been repeatedly raping her in her sleep.

The victim had no idea about the abuse until she stumbled on the footage after looking at an app called Video Locker on her husband’s phone. The series of videos she found were filmed while she was sleeping in their marital bed, sometimes after she had drank alcohol. In some scenes, he had zoomed in to record some of the graphic rape footage.

After the victim saw the video, she confronted her husband, saying: "I’ve just watched videos of you raping me on your phone."

The husband, who is in his 30s, left home after that and handed himself over to the police. By the time the woman went to the police a short while later, the man had already handed himself in.

He reportedly told officers: "I have had sex with my wife. She didn’t consent. She found out and saw videos on my phone".

He was tried at Newcastle Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, one of assault by penetration, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault. The court was told the man started the horrific abuse in September last year. He was sentenced to nine years in jail and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

In a statement, the abused wife said her life had been left in tatters as she struggled to come to terms with what her husband had done. She added that her ordeal has left her questioning every part of their seemingly happy relationship.

She said: "In March 2017, I discovered my husband had been sexually abusing me. I never thought he would be capable of doing what he did. He has completely fooled me. I never want to see him again."

Mark Giuliani, prosecuting, said: "On March 14 this year, the defendant left for work. As he forgot to take his mobile phone with him, the complainant took the opportunity to look at the phone and noticed something called Video Locker. Initially, she couldn’t get access to it, which caused her to become suspicious."

The woman managed to get access to the programme and was horrified by what she found. The videos varied in length from 30 seconds to two minutes and each showed a different occasion of the man raping or abusing his sleeping wife.

Mr Giuliani added: "It showed video recordings of the defendant participating in sexual activity with his wife while she was asleep. The recordings have subsequently been destroyed."

During his sentencing, Mr Recorder Baird said to the husband: "You abused the trust that your wife placed in you. Between September 2016 and March this year, you raped and sexually abused her while she was incapable of giving consent to your actions. I take the view you took advantage of the fact that she was in drink and a heavy sleeper. You did so for your own sexual gratification and treated her as an object for your fantasies, disregarding her wishes or needs."

The court heard the man had no previous convictions and, in the past, had been highly thought of by his colleagues and friends.