The former wife of 'railway rapist' John Duffy has recalled how he tried to suffocate her with a handkerchief during a rape attack.

Margaret Mustafa, 38, told the Old Bailey last week that her former husband who was jailed for life in 1988 for two murders and five rapes became excited when she struggled but would stop when she became passive.

Mrs Mustafa also told the court how Duffy, 42, would regularly go out at night for long periods of time with his friend David Mulcahy.

Mulcahy is currently on trial at the Old Bailey, where he denies three counts of murder including that of Potters Bar newlywed Anne Lock in 1986 and 12 of rape and conspiracy to rape. He allegedly committed the crimes, except for the murder of Mrs Lock, alongside childhood friend Duffy, who has testified at the trial of Mulcahy.

She added that Duffy would always carry a knife when he went out and that he would regularly force her to have sex.

"He used a handkerchief to try and suffocate me.

"He had one hand on my throat and the other trying to force it down my throat."

Mrs Mustafa added that her former husband, who she separated from in 1985, once gave her a personal stereo which he claimed he had stolen from a woman he raped.

"I thought he was just trying to get a reaction."

Last week Shirley Lineham told the court that, on a trip to a holiday camp with Mulcahy, he told her: "I've done something that could put me away for a long time."

The trial continues.