The disgraced former Conservative minister, Andrew Griffiths, raped his wife when she was asleep and subjected her to coercive control, a high court judge has concluded.

The judgment, published on Friday, detailed alleged domestic abuse by Griffiths towards his wife, Kate, who is now a serving Conservative MP, during their marriage.

It also included pressurising her into sex, physically assaulting and verbally abusing her, the judge found. Andrew Griffiths denied allegations made by his ex-wife and “adamantly denied” rape.

He resigned from the government as business minister in July 2018 for sending 2,000 sexually explicit messages to constituents and stepped down as an MP in November 2019. His wife went on to succeed him as Tory MP for the seat of Burton in East Staffordshire.

The allegations against her estranged husband were made in a case which began as an application by Andrew Griffiths in 2019, arguing he should be allowed to spend time with a child at the centre of the case. Kate Griffiths subsequently supported an application by two journalists for the judgment to be published, including the names of her and her ex-husband.

As the case was heard in a civil court, the findings of Judge Elizabeth Williscroft were made on the lower standard of proof of the balance of probabilities rather than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.