A woman's life 'ended' when police knocked on her door to say her husband had been drugging and raping her for 20 years, a court has heard. The husband would sexually abuse her after she drank enough alcohol to fall into a deep sleep, and also used a cocktail of drugs to knock her out.
Manchester Minshull Street crown court heard the husband 'filmed and photographed his exploits' before sharing it online with other like-minded men. A jury heard he also began inviting others to their home and, 'whilst his wife lay unconscious in their bed, he filmed himself and others raping and sexually abusing her'.
Wife 'entirely unaware' of abuse
The court heard the wife was 'entirely unaware' the abuse was happening, and in October 2025 'the life she knew ended' when police knocked on the front door of her home to arrest her husband. Louise Oakley KC, prosecuting, told the court the couple had an 'uneventful' marriage, enjoying their garden, socialising and holidays abroad.
For much of their marriage they had what the wife described as a 'normal' sex life, but they had not had sex for about nine years. They had never taken photographs or videos of themselves engaged in sexual activity, she told investigators. Ms Oakley said: 'She had never agreed to or been aware of anyone else being involved in sexual activity with them during the course of their marriage.'
Online discussions and arrests
But, unbeknown to her, her husband's 'escalating sexual desires and his deepening perversity reveal that he started to discuss sharing her', the court heard. He joined online discussions on sites like Telegram, Skype and WhatsApp, saying he wanted someone to come to the home they shared to 'f**k her' and 'abuse her'.
Nine men have gone on trial accused of a number of sexual offences against the woman, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity. The husband, a man in his 60s from the Stockport area, has previously pleaded guilty to 62 charges, including rape, assault by penetration, administering a substance with intent, sexual assault, attempted rape, and sharing intimate photographs or film. Four other men have also pleaded guilty to a variety of offences.
Undercover investigation
The court heard the husband's online behaviour was uncovered in October 2025, when undercover journalists infiltrated a chat group on the messaging app Telegram. Messages and images shared by one of the users claimed they were involved in drugging their wife and inviting strangers to rape her while she was unconscious and unaware. Investigations traced the user's address and phone number to the husband in the Stockport area.
As soon as he was identified, police obtained a warrant and searched his home. They seized various items, including digital devices such as a black Samsung Galaxy S25 mobile telephone. Ms Oakley said: 'That telephone was like a confession booth. It contained decades worth of material... It contained the husband's darkest secrets and the barbaric sexual fantasies that he had sought to fulfil going back in time to 2004. There were over a million photographs and videos cataloguing not only his abuse of his wife but abuse on her committed by others, including those in the dock today.'
Ms Oakley said the husband had been abusing his wife sexually for over 20 years while she was asleep or unconscious, initially taking advantage of occasions when she had drunk enough alcohol to fall into a deep sleep, but 'also on many more occasions... deliberately using a cocktail of stupefying drugs which he administered to her without her knowledge, with or without alcohol'. The jury also heard one of those accused of visiting their home messaged him saying: 'Remember what happened to the guy in France,' a reference to 'the man in France who had been raping his wife - a lady by the name of Gisele Pelicot.'
The nine men on trial, who deny a range of offences, are David Graves, 60, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire; Daniel Rayner, 42, of Whitstable, Kent; Philip Wild, 59, of Stockport; Mohammed Sabir, 28, of Stockport; Jonathan Kirk, 43, of Stockport; Jordan Wallace, 31, of Wythenshawe, Manchester; Alan Keelan, 42, of Wythenshawe; Robert Stewart, 70, of Stockport, and Richard Townsend, 38, of Heywood, Greater Manchester. The case continues.
