A judge has granted a woman legal separation from her former husband after he forced her into prostitution, acted as her pimp and lived off the earnings.

The woman told the court how her former husband forced her to prostitute herself in his presence and how he often beat her up when she refused to engage in sexual activity.

He would purchase provocative clothes for her, take her to clubs to show her off, get her drunk and arrange intimate meetings with several men. On one occasion, there was an encounter with five men in one evening, and there were occasions when her former husband would participate.

Mr Justice Robert Mangion, presiding over the Family Court, heard how the couple met when the woman was just 16. They dated for 18-months and tied the knot when she was 18 and three months pregnant with their first child.

The woman told the court that trouble began two years into their marriage when they returned home from a wedding and he forced her to have sex with another man in his presence. She recalled how she cried and resisted but he left her with no choice.

The woman was completely dominated by her estranged husband, both physically and psychologically

After this incident, the “sexual perversion” took over and he became more insistent, forcing her to dress provocatively and driving her to residences in different parts of the island to meet other men.

“When I would refuse, he would start swearing, punching me in the face and slapping me. He even broke my teeth. That was not the life I wanted, so I ran away from home. He would call, promising he would change,” she told the court.

She said that on one occasion, she had returned and agreed to give him another chance. But after just a few days, he took her to clubs in Paceville, where he would get her drunk as he organised sexual encounters. He would charge the men and keep all the money.

The court heard how even after the couple lived apart, he never paid his estranged wife alimony for their children.

A police inspector was called to testify during the separation proceedings, confirming the man had been charged with prostituting his own wife. He said the man was sent to prison over prostitution.

Mr Justice Mangion said the court had heard exhaustive evidence of the man’s abuse towards his wife.

It was also evident that he lived off the earnings of the illicit acts and made substantial amounts off this business, which one of their own children described in court as “easy money”.

The judge said the court could also see how the woman was “completely dominated” by her estranged husband, both physically and psychologically, and found herself in a situation where she could not refuse or in any way oppose his abuse.

The judge therefore upheld the woman’s request for a separation, attributing the blame for the marriage breakdown to the man.