A woman was allegedly tasered, raped and beaten in her home by her ex-partner, a court has heard.

In a special court sitting at Lisburn Magistrates' Court, a man aged in his 40s was charged with two counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, threats to kill, non-fatal strangulation, entering as a trespasser to commit rape and assaults including causing actual bodily harm.

He cannot be identified to protect the identity of the woman.

The court heard the man had turned up at the woman's house on two previous occasions, once with a baseball bat, but it was "marked as a domestic".

Warning: This article contains details of sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.

A detective constable told the court on 14 August staff at the Ulster Hospital contacted police to report the woman had presented with significant injuries which she disclosed had been caused by her ex-partner who was also at the hospital.

Officers attended and the woman said she was asleep in bed when she woke to find the defendant was in the room having broken in and was holding a taser.

He physically assaulted the victim and attacked her with the taser.

She described him threatening to kill her and covering her mouth with his hand before raping her twice.

When he agreed to take her to hospital he stopped on a road and discarded the taser, which has also been recovered by police.

The woman sustained a broken nose and bruising to her face and neck.

The defendant was arrested at the hospital and provided a pre-prepared statement accepting that he let himself into the house but denying the offences insisting everything was consensual.

However, he could not account for the injuries.