A man has gone on trial accused of raping his wife after she told him she wanted a separation.

He is also accused of head-butting her and threatening to kill her or cause her serious harm at various locations in Dublin in 2014.

The man, who cannot be identified, has pleaded guilty to one count of assault outside her parents’ home after she left him.

The couple married in 2005 and had a child five years later.

The jurors heard they developed certain difficulties in their marriage and the loss of his job led to a lot of fights.

He’s accused of head-butting her during an argument on their son’s birthday in May 2014 and when she later told him she wanted a separation, it is the State’s case that he refused to accept it and threatened to cut her with a knife before allegedly ordering her upstairs where he insisted she have sex with him.

The court heard she left the following morning and secured an interim barring order against him.

The woman, whose identity is protected, will also give evidence of receiving further threats and claims he would call her to tell her know he knew exactly where she was.

Her husband has admitted assaulting her in August 2014, but denies all other charges.