A businessman has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for forced marriage and sexual offences. In what is believed to be the first case in the UK since new legislation was introduced in 2014 the 43-year-old man from Cardiff pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, one count of bigamy and one count of voyeurism.
Merthyr Crown Court heard the already married man systematically raped his victim for months before threatening to go public with hidden camera footage of her showering unless she became his wife. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, developed an “irrational obsession” with his victim and lured her to his home under the promise of a get-together with friends.
But when she arrived at his home in Cardiff, the woman found the property empty before the curtains were drawn and the front door locked. A judge then told of how the terrified woman – a devout Muslim – was bound and gagged with scarves before music was played loudly to drown out her cries for help.
