Man who kept diary of rapes of wife loses sentence appeal

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

A man who kept a diary recording "all the details" of rapes of his wife has lost an appeal against his sentence.

The man - who was not named by judges who banned reporting his ex-wife's identity - was sentenced to eight years after being convicted of more than 20 rapes at Leicester Crown Court in March 2020.

He denied rape and was "adamant" his wife was a "willing participant".

The Court of Appeal dismissed his action 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 woman had said the man had repeatedly raped her when they were married, describing some of his sexual preferences as "abhorrent".

Prosecutors said the man kept the diary as he was "preparing" for the time when his wife would eventually report him.

The man had told a jury he had kept the paper record of the now-divorced couple's sex life "in case it should ever prove necessary to refer to it", Justice Thirlwall 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," she said.

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