KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) — A 39-year-old man who was found guilty of raping his wife four years ago has been sentenced to 13 years in jail.
An eight-member jury had, in November, also found the man guilty of assaulting his wife between October 15 and 18, 2014, occasioning actual bodily harm.
The man’s name is being withheld.
The jury had also returned a guilty verdict that on December 13, 2014, he abducted his wife and assaulted her.
However, the jury was split evenly on a second charge of rape, allegedly committed between October 15 and 18, 2014.
There was also a hung jury on a charge of aggravated burglary and damage to property, crimes the man was accused of committing on December 13, 2014.
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Sejilla McDowall had asked the court for an adjournment for the Crown to decide on a course of action regarding the charges on which the jury did not reach an agreement.
During the trial, the court heard that the couple was having marital problems and that there was no communication between them while the wife was in England for three months caring for an ill sibling.
The jury accepted the prosecution’s case that the man had raped his wife on October 13 after he forced himself into an apartment where the woman was living with their son.
The court heard that the man had wielded a penknife during an argument with his wife and during the fracas demanded whether or not she had been faithful to him.
The court heard that the man had sex with the woman against her will.
But defence counsel Ronald “Ronnie” Marks argued that the couple had engaged in “make-up sex”.