A Laois man, who raped and brutally beat his wife in their marital bed after she declined to hold his hand, has been jailed for seven years.

Mr Justice Paul Butler, who suspended the final two years of the sentence, said it was a “tragic” case”, which had left a family destroyed.

“The family relationships of the brave victim have been completely destroyed,” Mr Butler told the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday.

The man’s sentence hearing earlier this month heard that his two adult sons supported him and had written letters of testimonial describing him as a good father.

The victim, who was not in court for the sentence, previously gave an emotional victim impact statement in which she said that more than just her marriage died that night.

“I feel like a ghost,” she said. “The attack on me in my own bed was a complete shock. I couldn’t breathe, move or make a sound. I was sure my life was over.”

Last October, a jury found the 45-year-old Laois man guilty of raping his wife of on January 8th, 2015. He had already pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to her by punching her repeatedly in the face prior to raping her.

The man, who can not be named for legal reasons, does not accept the rape guilty verdict.

The court previously heard that during the attack, the woman started screaming, “help me God” before he told her, “no God is going to help you”.

The court heard the attack was sparked by the man becoming annoyed when his wife did not hold his hand on the couch that night and told him “begging is not attractive”.

The man told gardaí he “flipped” because the woman accused him of being “needy” and he felt she implied he didn’t know how to attract women. He said he punched her five or six times to the face before making her beg for mercy.

He said he then asked her for sex and she consented and seemed to enjoy it. He also said she had previously asked him to “rape” her during consensual sex and that she never refused sex.

The woman said she was not physically forced to have sex, but that she was in fear for her life.