A man is facing up to five years in prison after a woman choked to death on a mushy cucumber they were using as a sex toy.

Oliver D, a 46-year-old German, invited his mistress to his apartment while his wife and daughter were out, Bild reports.

They then proceeded to drink four bottles of wine and a large quantity of Schnapps before heading to the bedroom, jurors were told.

The accused reportedly told a court in Mannheim: “We would often use dildos as well as carrots and courgettes in our sex life."

On the day in question, in July 2014, the man said "she didn't have any toys with her, so I grabbed half a cucumber from the kitchen".

He then used the vegetable as a sex toy, before putting it in her mouth. Apparently noticing smoke coming from the kitchen, the man left the room.

"I'd forgotten that I'd put a piece of meat on the stove for my dog. It was burning. I ran to the kitchen, fed the dog and then smoked a cigarette on the balcony," he told the court.

When he returned, she was unconscious on the floor. The cucumber was still lodged in her throat and had cut off her air passage.

"I tried to pull the pieces of cucumber out of her throat. But they were so mushy I couldn't get them all," he explained.

The woman fell into a coma and later died in hospital.

In court, the prosecutor charged that the defendant's actions had been negligent.

State prosecutor Reinhard Hofmann said: "He should have known that he couldn't leave her alone for so long."