A woman who told her husband she believed she had been sexually assaulted after a night out later found out he was her attacker, a court has heard.
The victim had gone out in Reading alone and became intoxicated after an argument with the man, 35, who was later called by a member of the public to pick her up from a roadside bench.
The man then raped his wife when they got home, Reading Crown Court heard.
The next morning, the victim suspected she had been attacked so confided in her husband, who told her to call the police.
Detectives later arrested the man after DNA evidence showed he was the attacker.
In a police interview the husband revealed his wife was “very drunk, barely coherent and had trouble talking” when he picked her up in May 2016.
“You drove her home and the inevitable conclusion of the jury was you then raped her while she was unable to consent, as a result of the alcohol she had consumed,” the judge said.
Although the man claimed the couple had last had consensual intercourse a week earlier, DNA evidence proved otherwise.
He was convicted of one count of rape by a majority jury verdict on late last month.
The man was handed a seven-year prison sentence, ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register and made the subject of a restraining order, banning him from contacting his wife other than through solicitors.
The victim said she felt she had been betrayed by the one person in the world she trusted the most, in a statement read by the judge.
“She described the total and utter shock upon finding out the person responsible was you, her husband,” the judge said.
“Your marriage has broken down as a result and she had to move out of the home you shared together.”
