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Court rules elderly man must face trial for rape-in-marriage allegations dating back to 1963 | adelaidenow
AN elderly man will stand trial for allegedly raping his wife almost 50 years ago, after the nation's highest court dismissed his claim that rape in marriage was legal at that time.
The man, now 81, of Ferryden Park, near Adelaide, has been charged with several offences including two counts of rape, allegedly committed against his wife in 1963.
It is alleged the man raped his then wife, to whom he was married from 1962 to 1971.
His District Court trial was postponed pending his appeal to the Full Court of the High Court over the legal definition of rape.
His lawyers claimed common law held a husband could not rape his wife because the marriage "contract" granted him an unfettered right to sex.
AN elderly man will stand trial for allegedly raping his wife almost 50 years ago, after the nation's highest court dismissed his claim that rape in marriage was legal at that time.
The man, now 81, of Ferryden Park, near Adelaide, has been charged with several offences including two counts of rape, allegedly committed against his wife in 1963.
It is alleged the man raped his then wife, to whom he was married from 1962 to 1971.
His District Court trial was postponed pending his appeal to the Full Court of the High Court over the legal definition of rape.
His lawyers claimed common law held a husband could not rape his wife because the marriage "contract" granted him an unfettered right to sex.