Philip Young, 50, a former Conservative councillor, filmed three men sexually abusing his wife after placing an advert about her on Craigslist, Winchester Crown Court has heard. Young has already admitted 56 charges, including multiple counts of rape against his wife Joanna Young, 49, across a 13-year period.
Four other men are on trial at the same court on separate charges. Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, Richard Wilkins, 62, Norman Macksoni, 48, and Mohammed Hassan, 38, all deny the allegations against them.
The Craigslist advert and the 'rules'
Prosecuting, Sarah Jones KC, told the court that Young placed an advert on Craigslist about his wife, which Sanderson-Doyle responded to. Young allegedly set out a number of "rules" about their "discreet" communications before Sanderson-Doyle replied: "Hey that all sounds good, I just wanna check what the limits are, what I can/can't do, and also what she likes? I'll be coming from the west Swindon area so it shouldn't take too long to travel."
Sanderson-Doyle denies sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching.
Video footage shown to the jury
Ms Jones said a video recorded by Young in June 2016 showed Sanderson-Doyle abusing his wife. She said Young was allegedly "kneeling on the bed in his underwear and a shirt over his upper half".
She continued: "He is also wearing a balaclava covering his face, so this would appear to be an undertaking he was not precisely proud of."
According to Ms Jones, Young was performing a sex act on himself as he "watches in full view of the stranger crawling over his wife" in the footage before he says: "No...Let go..."
Sanderson-Doyle later said that he thought it was just a married couple "trying to live out whatever their kink is", according to the prosecutor, and that he was under the impression that Mrs Young had consented.
Charges faced by Wilkins, Macksoni and Hassan
Wilkins, of Toothill, Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and one of assault by penetration on July 10, 2016. In footage of that incident, Ms Jones said Mrs Young was again seen asleep before Wilkins began to abuse her. She said it showed "Joanne Young spread on a bed naked with no covering at all, her arms raised and shackled to the bed, and she is blindfolded".
Ms Jones continued: "She can be heard snoring. She is quite evidently asleep. The defendant, in underwear only, enters the frame climbing onto the bed and without any attempt to rouse or have a word with Joanne, he positions himself between her legs."
She said: "The notion of checking with the woman who is so out of it she is snoring never seems to enter the minds of either. They have no interest in her consent - it is perfectly apparent you may feel to them and to you she was not capable of giving it."
Macksoni, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, has denied one count of rape on February 20, 2017. In a third video, Ms Jones said the footage showed Macksoni "on top of the shackled, blindfolded, still form of Joanne Young, who makes some noises but her participation is, you may feel, less than wholehearted and wholly akin to what you might expect if someone were drugged".
She continued: "It would appear he is delighted with the effect of his system for fooling a drugged woman - by speaking closely in her ear, he is making her believe she is having relations with her husband."
According to Ms Jones, Macksoni said when interviewed by police that he believed Mrs Young and Young had consented, and said he believed "this is one of their fantasies".
Hassan, of Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual touching on February 19, 2023. There was no video evidence of Hassan, but Ms Jones said it was accepted that he visited the Youngs on that day. Ms Jones added that Mrs Young had recalled becoming aware of the presence of another man in the room performing a sex act on her while her husband was also present.
Consent dispute and background
Ms Jones said: "In respect of all four defendants, none now suggest that Mrs Young was actually consenting. Each agrees that she was not. But what each defendant is likely to say is that they believed at the time that she was consenting and to argue that such a belief was reasonable in the circumstances."
She added: "The Crown dispute this - given the state Mrs Young was quite apparently in and the circumstances of their meeting we say these defendants did not believe that she was consenting, nor would any such belief have been reasonable."
Mrs Young, a mother of three who waived her right to anonymity, is now divorced from Young. The trial continues.
