A husband who repeatedly drugged and raped his wife arranged for sedatives to be posted to his dead mother-in-law's home, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard today.
The man, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, has admitted 62 offences, including rape and administering substances with intent to stupefy her so others could engage in sexual activity with her. He cannot be named to protect his wife's right to lifelong anonymity.
Court hears of sedatives sent to deceased relative's address
Prosecutor Louise Oakley KC, opening the case on the second day of the trial, told how co-defendant David Graves, 60, allegedly encouraged the husband to commit the rapes and offered to send him an unknown substance in January 2021.
Ms Oakley said: "So desperate is (the husband) that (he) sent him (his wife's) mother's address to post them to. His mother-in-law had recently died and the house she had been living in was empty. Does it get any worse than that?"
The tablets did not arrive, and the husband "accused Graves of not having posted them", but when they did turn up they proved hard to crush and tasted "bitter" when mixed in wine. Ms Oakley added: "David Graves went on to provide practical solutions including that they be hidden in her food."
Abuse began in 2004 and escalated
Jurors were told the husband began abusing his wife in 2004 and started involving other men in 2015. He targeted a sex chat group called 'FabSwingers' to trawl for men willing to abuse his "unaware" spouse.
Graves and the husband first contacted each other in 2018 and exchanged a large volume of messages. Graves asked for new material and made derogatory comments, calling the wife a "slut" and "old tart", adding "she deserves it". Ms Oakley said Graves became "incredibly impatient" for the husband to send him images of the wife being abused, adding: "(The husband) said to him, our perversion isn't number one priority. Well, it must have been pretty close to the top of the list."
The husband went on to give his wife cocktails of stupefying drugs without her knowledge as he filmed and photographed his exploits, sharing that imagery online, she alleged. One online contact sent the husband a photograph of comedian Bill Cosby with the words "she can't say no if she's unconscious".
Other defendants and the investigation
It is alleged the first stranger to come to the husband's house was defendant Robert Stewart, 70, a retired DJ, in 2016, but he left without doing anything because the wife "stirred", prompting the husband to want to obtain drugs after deciding alcohol alone was "unreliable". Stewart provided the husband with tramadol sleeping pills, the court heard.
In early 2019, the husband purchased Zolpidem sleeping tablets online. The prosecution said he was explicit to other men that his wife would not consent and "wouldn't be interested". In one exchange with Graves in October 2018, Graves asked "when did you last abuse her?" and he replied: "Don't keep a diary, lol (laugh out loud)."
By 2023, the husband was active in the 'fabswingers.com' chat group. Ms Oakley said: "He started using this site to identify people who lived close to him... He would start chatting to people and would make it clear that she would be out of it."
The woman's ordeal ended after journalists infiltrated an online messaging forum on Telegram and police swooped in 2025 at the husband's home. Detectives arrested him and seized a mobile phone containing more than one million photographs and videos cataloguing the abuse.
Ms Oakley said: "She had absolutely no idea it was going on. That is, until the police came to her door and she was identified as the subject of the videos taken by (the husband)."
The husband was not in the dock and would be a witness in the case. He has been charged with 62 offences involving rape, administering substances with intent to stupefy or overpower his wife to enable a person to engage in sexual activity with her, and sharing intimate imagery of her.
On trial with Graves are Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic; Robert Stewart, 70; Mohammed Sabir, 28, a recruitment consultant; youth football coach Alan Keelan, 42; dog walker Jordan Wallace, 31; taxi driver Philip Wild, 60; metal worker Richard Townsend, 38; and Daniel Rayner, 42. All deny a variety of sexual offences.
Four other men have pleaded guilty at earlier hearings: Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Dundee; Karl Lindsay, 56, of Taunton; Sean Peers, 38, of Stockport; and Graham Brougham, 74, of Northwich, Cheshire. The trial continues.
