'Husband raped me as I cradled my daughter'

A buyer for a leading fashion house told a court today how her husband raped her as she cradled her daughter.

Moments before, he had threatened his wife with a knife before filming himself raping her. He then threatened to send the video to her boss to "humiliate her and make her a laughing stock".

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how the "house husband" attacked his wife when he became depressed after staying at home to care for the children while she worked. She gave evidence by video link.

The 20-minute video of the first alleged attack, at a flat in West Hampstead last December, was played to the jury.

The woman, in her thirties, said that after the filmed attack she fled to her daughter's bedroom but her husband followed. Her daughter woke as she screamed for help.

The wife said her husband held the knife above the girl's head and threatened to kill her. The woman said she was then forced to have sex. "He was behind me, I was lying on my side with my daughter in my arms," she said.

The man, 31, denies two charges of rape, indecent assault, making a threat to kill and causing actual bodily harm. The trial continues.