Ex-Tory MP found guilty of raping sleeping wife
Former Conservative minister Andrew Griffiths has been found guilty of raping his sleeping wife and subjecting her to coercive control, a UK judge ruled on Friday.
The ruling, released on Friday, outlined the allegations made by his then-wife Kate Griffiths during their five-year marriage. At the conclusion of the case, the judge accepted the claims that he had pressured her into sex, as well as physically and verbally abusing her.
Among the charges, Kate, who replaced her ex-husband as Conservative MP for Burton, claimed he raped her when she was asleep and exerted coercive control over her. Andrew “adamantly denied” the charge of rape, as well as rejecting the other allegations made.
Andrew was forced to resign from his position as a government minister in 2018 when it was reported that he sent around 2,000 sexually explicit messages to female constituents. He stood down as MP at the next election in 2019.
The allegations of abuse were made during a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where Andrew was seeking to get more time to spend with a child at the center of the case. Media outlets had initially been prohibited from naming either Andrew or Kate Griffiths but, following an application by two journalists, Kate backed removing their anonymity.
Since the case was heard in a civil court, Judge Elizabeth Williscroft’s ruling was made based on a lower standard of proof than would be required for criminal prosecution.
