A mother-of-three told a court how she barricaded herself in a bathroom after discovering her husband had covertly invited another man into their house to sexually assault her.
Joanne Young, 49, was wearing a blindfold and tied up, believing she was being intimate with her husband Philip, 50, when she became aware of another presence in the bedroom. Mrs Young, who has chosen to give up her right to anonymity, told Winchester Crown Court the incident took place after an evening out with friends in February 2023.
Discovery in the Bedroom
"I can't remember all of it," she said. "We had been out drinking with friends that evening and at some point after he had come upstairs, I had the blindfold on and the restraints.
"I had been having sex and I felt someone else's hand on my wrist – and it wasn't his hand because he was at the end of the bed on me – and the hand was over there."
"It was not the same person. The hand was there because I remember for some reason I was trying to take the wristband or the blindfold off. I was obviously really shocked because you don't expect someone else to be in your bedroom."
"Phil said to the person, 'Get down' and the person ducked at the end of the bed. I don't know if they ran off first or I ran to the bathroom first, but I ended up in the bathroom and ran into the bathroom because I think I was just really shocked."
Aftermath and Confession
Mrs Young described the events in police interviews shown to the jury. She told officers she went downstairs, peered through the window, and spotted an unfamiliar car parked outside.
"I just went back upstairs eventually, just sat in my room and eventually went to sleep because I didn't know who was in the house. Phil never came back up," she said. "The next day we spoke about it briefly. It's probably one of the few times I've ever seen him upset. He doesn't cry, he doesn't get upset."
"He apologised and said he was so sorry he had done that. He said that he had been looking in forums or been in some forums," she recalled. "He said: 'I invited someone around the house to watch us have sex'. I was really upset, shocked someone had been there, it was so intrusive, something that I would never ever accept or want."
On the day of his arrest, Young admitted there had been additional occasions. "He had come in to tell me that he had shared something online without my consent, images, I think he said. That was totally out of the blue," she said.
"I just said to him, 'That thing in February, was that really the only time that happened?'. He stood there and looked at me and said, 'No'. I said, 'Was it the same person?' He said, 'No, it was two people'."
Court Proceedings and Defendants
Mrs Young told officers the pair had been together for 22 years, married for 20 of those, and enjoyed a "normal" and "monogamous" sex life. She firmly denied that "a specific fantasy of sleep in sex was a part of your relationship", responding: "Absolutely not."
The courtroom was cleared so footage from three of the incidents could be played to those present. Presiding judge Mr Justice Saini restricted who could view the footage, permitting only the jury, barristers, the judge, defendants and two observing journalists to remain.
Young, a former Conservative councillor, has pleaded guilty to a total of 56 charges. Four co-defendants face trial: Norman Macksoni, 48, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, who has denied one count of rape; Richard Wilkins, 62, of Toothill, Swindon, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and one of assault by penetration; Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, of Swindon, who has denied sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching; and Mohammed Hassan, 38, of Swindon, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual touching. A sixth defendant, Dean Hamilton, 47, of Street, Somerset, has admitted one charge of assault by penetration, two of sexual assault and one of rape.
All defendants will be sentenced upon the conclusion of the trial, which continues.
