A man on trial in France for drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over a decade told a criminal psychologist that his wife was to blame for his actions because she wouldn’t go swinging with him.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, was excused from sitting through today’s hearing after his lawyer told the trial judge that he had suffered ‘medical problems’ over the past 48 hours for which he had not received ‘adequate treatment’.

But psychologist Annabelle Montagne told the court in Avignon this morning that she interviewed the retired electrician in December 2020 - a month and a half after he was taken into custody - where he admitted to carrying out the campaign of abuse of his wife Gisele.

‘Pelicot said: ‘‘My wife and I had a discussion about swinging but she didn’t agree so I drugged her’’,’ the psychologist recounted.

Madame Montagne said Pelicot maintained he loved his wife, but she added: ‘He sees his partner as an object to satisfy his sexual and narcissistic needs. His wife is then a partial object and no longer an object of total love.’