A Stockport man who pleaded guilty to drugging and raping his wife for more than two decades expects to die in prison but wants her to "know the truth", a jury has been told.
The husband, in his 60s, entered guilty pleas in September to 62 offences, including rape and administering substances with intent to stupefy her so others could engage in sexual activity with her. He is set to testify for the prosecution against nine men standing trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court who allegedly shared his "barbaric fantasies" and "led double lives to mask their depravity".
Prosecutor outlines husband's motivation
Wrapping up her opening statements on Thursday, prosecutor Louise Oakley KC told jurors: "After he had pleaded guilty to all the charges he faced on the indictment, he indicated that he would be willing to give evidence against those who he had offended with."
"He says he wants to tell the truth. He wants his wife and his family to know the truth, to know what happened. He is not doing it to get a reduced sentence. He fully expects to die in prison for what he has done. He accepts that what he did to (his wife) was down to him, that he was the one in control. Without him, none of it would have happened."
He initially exploited his wife while she was asleep or unconscious through alcohol, capturing videos and images which he distributed online, the jury has been told. He subsequently resorted to medication and drugs to leave her helpless. His internet browsing history spanning 2014 to 2025 uncovered extensive searches relating to medication and drugs, including their effects and potential dangers.
Substances detected and abuse uncovered
Jurors were informed that toxicology tests revealed his wife had been exposed to a number of substances in the months preceding her husband's arrest. One of the drugs detected, the court heard, was a sleeping sedative that could prove fatal if combined with alcohol.
From 2023, he began bringing other men back to the couple's home, where it is alleged he and others sexually abused his wife while she lay "out of it" in their bed.
The court was told that police uncovered the abuse after undercover journalists infiltrated a chat group on messaging app Telegram, in which members appeared to share a specific interest in engaging in sexual activity with someone asleep or unconscious. The husband was identified as one of the group's users who had been sharing imagery of the abuse of his wife at their home address. Detectives subsequently arrested him and seized a number of items, including a mobile phone containing more than a million photographs and videos cataloging the abuse carried out by him and others, jurors have heard.
Other defendants and sentencing
The husband, who cannot be named in order to protect his wife's anonymity, will be sentenced at a later date, alongside four other men who have also admitted to various offences involving his wife.
Karl Lindsay, 56, of Taunton, Somerset, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent to stupefy. Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Dundee, Scotland, has admitted the same offences and assault by penetration. Graham Brougham, 74, of Northwich, Cheshire, has pleaded guilty to rape and conspiracy to rape, and Sean Peers, 38, of Stockport, has pleaded guilty to assault by penetration.
The nine defendants on trial are Robert Stewart, 70, of Stockport; David Graves, 60, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire; Philip Wild, 59, of Stockport; Daniel Rayner, 42, of Whitstable, Kent; Mohammed Sabir, 28, of Stockport; Jordan Wallace, 31, of Wythenshawe; Alan Keelan, 42, of Wythenshawe; Richard Townsend, 38, of Heywood, Greater Manchester; and Jonathan Kirk, 43, of Stockport. All deny the charges they face.
