Oh dear, m’lord, this is medieval

THE husband of a woman with learning difficulties is facing a legal ban on sexual intercourse with his wife on the grounds that her mental state might make it impossible for her to agree consent.

It sounds like an impossibly sad and tragic case. But equally sad and tragic are the comments of the judge in question, Mr Justice Hayden. ‘I cannot think of any more obviously fundamental human right than the right of a man to have sex with his wife — and the right of the State to monitor that.’

Sounds like the sort of thing you’d expect from a medieval Pope, not a judge in 21st-century Britain.