A wife raped by her husband over a 20-year period was found with a “potentially fatal” cocktail of 11 drugs in her system, a court heard. Toxicology tests on a strand of the woman’s hair detected traces of substances including morphine, cocaine, ketamine, tranquilisers and sedatives.
Jurors were told the wife said the only medication she took regularly were multi-vitamins and blood pressure and heartburn tablets prescribed by her GP. The results from the hair sample “could represent eight months of exposure to drugs”, the court was told.
Husband’s guilty pleas and alleged abuse
Manchester Minshull Street crown court previously heard the husband used a “cocktail of stupefying drugs” on his wife before filming himself sexually abusing her and sharing the footage online. He invited other men he met online to their house and, while his wife lay unconscious in their marital bed, he filmed himself and others raping and sexually abusing her.
The husband, in his 60s, has pleaded guilty to 62 offences, including rape; assault by penetration; administering a substance with intent; sexual assault; attempted rape; and sharing intimate photographs or film. The alleged abuse continued until October last year, when undercover journalists infiltrated online messaging groups where footage was being shared, contacted police, and the husband was traced to his home in the Stockport area and arrested.
Prosecution opening and hair analysis
Louise Oakley KC, prosecuting, told the jury that after admitting sexually abusing his wife, the husband said he would be “willing to give evidence against those who he had offended with”. She said he wanted his wife and family to “know the truth, to know what happened”, adding he was not doing it to get a reduced sentence and fully expects to die in prison for what he has done.
An 8cm piece of hair was taken from the wife and sent to a specialist laboratory in France. Oakley said blood or urine samples only detect substances for hours or a few days, whereas hair analysis can provide a historical timeline of exposure spanning weeks, months or even up to a year. She told the court the effect of the drugs, when combined with alcohol, was “unpredictable” and “could have been fatal”. None of the drugs or medications detected in her hair had been prescribed to her.
Evidence of searches and messages
The court heard that between October 2014 and October 2025, the husband’s internet browsing history revealed extensive searches for medication and drugs, including their effects, dosage, purchasing, and the dangers of mixing with alcohol. He also searched for erectile dysfunction, pipettes, eye checks, lowering inhibitions, STIs and STI tests.
The husband discussed sourcing and administering drugs with some of the men he met online. He gave one defendant, David Graves, 60, the address of a late relative for him to send drugs to as the property was empty. He also discussed drugs with another defendant, Robert Stewart, 70, who allegedly raped the unconscious wife on September 21 last year, a month before the husband’s arrest.
After that visit, Stewart sent the husband a message urging him to “delete all messages” and saying “remember what happened to the guy in France?”, a reference to Gisèle Pelicot. Oakley said the comparison summed up the entire case, and the offending would have continued had it not been for the husband’s arrest.
Defendants and ongoing trial
Nine men on trial, who all deny a range of sexual offences, are David Graves, 60, a sales rep; Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic; Robert Stewart, 70, a retired DJ; Mohammed Sabir, 29, a recruitment consultant; youth football coach Alan Keelan, 42; building company worker and dog walker Jordan Wallace, 31; taxi driver Philip Wild, 58; metal worker Richard Townsend, 38; and Daniel Rayner, 42, a self-employed mechanic.
Stewart, Wild, Sabir and Kirk, all of Stockport, Greater Manchester, Graves, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and Rayner, of Whitstable, Kent, deny conspiracy to rape between 2015 and 2025. Graves and Rayner also deny conspiracy to assault by penetration between 2018 and 2025, while Stewart, Graves and Rayner deny conspiracy to administer a substance with the intention of stupefying or overpowering the wife.
Four other men — Karl Lindsay, 56, of Taunton, Somerset, Graham Brougham, 74, of Northwich, Cheshire, Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Dundee, and Sean Peers, 38, of Stockport — have pleaded guilty to various sexual offences at earlier hearings. The case continues.
