A husband who drugged and raped his wife for over 20 years was branded a 'monster' by prosecutors, a jury has heard. The prosecution continued to outline its case against nine men accused of sexual offences against the man's wife.
The man, in his 60s from Stockport, has admitted multiple offences, including rape and administering substances with intent to stupefy her so others could engage in sexual activity with her, and will give evidence at the trial. The Manchester Evening News and other media organisations are not naming the man to protect his victim's anonymity.
Nine men deny charges
The nine men on trial deny the charges they face. Seven of the nine defendants have been described as 'contact offenders', who jurors heard visited the couple's home expecting her to be 'wasted' and 'out of it'.
The alleged 'contact offenders' are taxi driver Philip Wild, 59; recruitment agency worker Mohammed Sabir, 28; building supplies employee Jordan Wallace, 31; industrial cleaning firm worker Alan Keelan, 42; retiree Robert Stewart, 70; sheet metal worker Richard Townsend, 38; and senior paramedic Jonathan Kirk, 43.
The Crown alleges 'non-contact' offenders, who allegedly 'hid behind a screen' as they conspired to administer substances to the wife, are kitchen firm sales rep David Graves, 60; and self-employed mechanic Daniel Rayner, 42. Four other men pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to various offences linked to the case.
Prosecution outlines case
As prosecutor Louise Oakley KC opened the Crown's case for a third day to jurors at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, she described images of the husband and wife taken together at the house, before Mr Keelan is said to have attended and allegedly sexually abused her later that evening.
Ms Oakley said the images showed them looking 'completely and utterly innocent', and 'messing around'. "They look a normal, happy couple," she said. Later that evening the husband took images of himself abusing his wife, jurors heard. "She was completely unaware of what he had been doing to her," the prosecutor said.
Ms Oakley said: "You may think that is the imagery that sums up [the husband's] depravity. He can be like that one minute and then the next be the monster we have seen on many many occasions."
Outlining the Crown's case, Ms Oakley said that on a night in July 2024, the husband alone subjected his wife to a 'prolonged episode of sexual abuse' while she was unconscious, including rape, and that images were created of the abuse.
The court heard that the husband continued to exchange messages with Mr Rayner into August 2024. Mr Rayner asked for pictures and videos, and said in messages 'passed out ones are obviously better' and 'hope she's being used tonight', the jury heard.
Alleged abuse incidents detailed
Ms Oakley said that in September 2024, the husband arranged for two men, Sean Peers and Graham Brougham, to attend his home to sexually abuse his wife while she was unconscious. They attended one after the other on a single night, Ms Oakley said. Brougham raped and abused the woman and Peers abused her. Jurors have heard that the pair have pleaded guilty to offences.
Ms Oakley said that the husband shared the abuse footage with Mr Rayner. Mr Rayner is said to have asked the husband: "So when can I come over and play if your pimping her out." "Well worth the travel if I get to f*** her like that." "So I guessing she had no idea he had stripped and f***** her." The husband replied: "No." Mr Rayner is said to have replied: "F***** amazing mate. What did you give her. I've always used GHB."
Jurors heard that on a night in October 2024, the husband arranged for a man named Keith Fotheringham to abuse his wife at their home while she was unconscious. Fotheringham attended and sexually abused the woman. Ms Oakley said that Fotheringham's 'involvement extended far beyond' that incident, and that he supplied the husband with drugs and 'actively sought imagery'. He has also pleaded guilty to offences.
Ms Oakley said the husband shared further images with Mr Rayner in November 2024. Mr Rayner is said to have asked: "Mate does you [sic] sedative only work when mixed with alcohol? I only ask as I bought some and tested it with alcohol and it did sweet fa [sic]." He continued: "5ml yeah it's from the same guy in Thailand that I have ordered from before. Just wasn't mixed with alcohol but it says it should work without, just alcohol makes it take effect quicker. Quite frustrating as it wasn't cheap."
Mr Rayner is said to have added: "Supposed to be GHB or sleep serum as they described it." Ms Oakley said: "The Crown's case is that this is evidence that this was not fantasy or role play." She alleged that messages and transactions demonstrated that Mr Rayner had purchased such substances.
Events in 2025
Ms Oakley told jurors about events in 2025. She said: "[The husband] doesn't appear to have had any New Year's resolutions to stop his offending on his wife. If anything, his resolve to satisfy his own perversity continued." She said that on a night in February 2025, the husband 'decided he would try drugging' his wife, crushing up a tablet and mixing it with some water.
He tried 'dripping it under her tongue when she was already drunk'. On the same evening, Philip Wild attended the house after communicating with the husband, jurors heard. The husband 'made it clear there was no chance of her [the wife] waking up again', Ms Oakley said. The prosecutor said: "Philip Wild was fully aware that [the wife] was not conscious and was not able to consent to any sexual activity. At no point did he even seek to communicate with [the wife] or seek her consent."
In the bedroom the woman was 'fast asleep and breathing heavily', jurors heard. Mr Wild then allegedly sexually abused her. The husband was standing at the side of the bed, filming the incident, jurors heard. Mr Wild is also said to have engaged in oral sex with the husband.
Ms Oakley said: "The prosecution suggest at no time during that entire incident did [the wife] show any real signs of being conscious. She was snoring, in reality she was not conscious." The prosecutor said: "By the end of 2024, [the husband] was completely aware of the sexual abuse he was subjecting his wife to, both alone and with others."
After Mr Wild left, the husband went onto an online chat room relating to swingers. Mohammed Sabir, said to be a stranger to the husband, is said to have responded and then attended the home on the same night. His username on the chat room was said to be 'kashmirispice', jurors heard.
The husband told Mr Sabir that his wife was 'asleep upstairs', and that she was 'drunk and passed out', jurors heard. Prosecutors alleged that Mr Sabir went on to rape her. The wife 'moved ever so slightly' and Mr Sabir 'panicked' and 'got off the bed', the court heard. Ms Oakley said: "She is snoring. How could anyone have either ignored that sound, or thought that was made up?"
Ms Oakley said of the woman, in images taken during Mr Sabir's alleged abuse: "You may think she looked like a rag doll. She was not conscious." Mr Sabir left, and he later asked for videos which the husband had taken, it was said.
In March 2025, Mr Sabir is said to have messaged the husband: "Been thinking about you and your wife. Fantasies about us playing together. Imagine us all playing together." The husband replied: "She wouldn't." "I know," Mr Sabir is said to have replied. The husband later told Mr Sabir: "I'm never sure how much she will drink so hard to plan. Often thought about helping the drink but haven't a clue about it."
The husband asked Mr Sabir to leave a 'review' on his chat room profile, jurors heard. Ms Oakley said the purpose was to 'ensure that [the husband] secured other people who were interested in experiencing what Mohammed Sabir had', sexual intercourse with an 'unaware' woman.
Ms Oakley said the husband was in contact with Mr Rayner again in April 2025. Mr Rayner allegedly offered to send the husband some GHB 'on condition that he [the husband] show him how much fun he has with her when she's drunk it'. Mr Rayner allegedly told the husband 'I've been offered this', accompanied by a video of a bottle of GHB.
Jordan Wallace was alleged to have attended the house on a night in May 2025. The husband messaged contacts on a messaging app. An unnamed contact replied 'she looks out completely' in response to a video of the woman. The husband replied: "Booze 20mg Zolpidem." The prosecutor told jurors that Zolpidem is a 'sedative'.
The husband posted on the swinger chat room site, saying he was 'bored', that his 'wife was wasted' and asked 'did anyone have any ideas', jurors heard. Mr Wallace, said to be a complete stranger to the husband, responded. The husband told him that his wife was passed out in bed. Mr Wallace asked him to prove it, and the husband sent an image and video of his wife.
After arriving at the house on a bicycle, Mr Wallace allegedly raped the woman. During the incident, Mr Wallace allegedly 'got rough' with her. The husband had to 'push him away', it was said. "What the f*** are you doing," the husband told him. Ms Oakley said: "Eventually, [the husband] pushed him to the door and made him leave. He was angry."
In June 2025, Mr Sabir was said to have messaged the husband 'ask your wife if she will have a 3sum if pay'. "There is no chance of that," the husband replied. A man named Alan Keelan is said to have attended the home in June 2025. When Mr Keelan arrived, the husband told him that his wife was 'passed out', it was said. Mr Keelan is accused of sexually abusing her in the bedroom.
On a night in July 2025, the husband sent out a message on the swingers chat room for someone to attend the house, and Richard Townsend, under the username 'trickydicky88', responded, the jury was told. The husband told Mr Townsend that 'his wife was passed out drunk', and he asked him 'if he wanted to come round to see her'.
Ms Oakley said: "[The husband] made it clear that the idea of men wanting to go round and abuse her while she was unconscious is what did it for him. He wasn't interested in anything less than that. He wanted to watch men have sex with his wife." Mr Townsend is accused of sexually abusing her. Ms Oakley said the woman's leg moved, and it was 'clear she was restless and stirring, so together they decided that was perhaps enough for that night and he left'.
Ms Oakley then told jurors about the allegations against Jonathan Kirk. The husband had been in contact with Mr Kirk on the swingers chat room, and they had messaged several months before he attended the home. Mr Kirk's username was 'bimale_northwest', the court heard. Ms Oakley claimed Mr Kirk was 'perhaps a little bit more cautious' than others in attending the house.
Mr Kirk was said to have suggested that the husband attend his home. There, the husband allegedly showed Mr Kirk images of his wife 'passed out and being abused by him'. Ms Oakley said that at Mr Kirk's address, he and the husband engaged in consensual oral sex. The husband told Mr Kirk that he would 'consider drugging' his wife. Mr Kirk, a senior paramedic, is said to have told him that it 'could be very dangerous'.
On one night in August 2025, Mr Kirk allegedly messaged the husband to ask if his wife was 'out of it' and whether he could attend the home. Ms Oakley said: "You may think as a senior paramedic, he [Mr Kirk] cannot have failed to notice she [the wife] was not conscious. He is trained to spot that. The truth is, he knew she was, and that's how he wanted her to be." Mr Kirk is accused of raping her.
Ms Oakley said: "At one point, [the husband] and Jonathan Kirk paused what they were doing, so as to not wake her." Jurors heard that in the following days, the husband asked Mr Kirk if he wanted the images taken of the alleged abuse. Mr Kirk was 'at times quite insistent' in asking the husband when he could attend the house again, it was alleged. Ms Oakley said 'both wanted that to happen' but that they had not made any 'firm plans' by the time the husband was arrested.
Jurors were told that Mr Sabir attended the house again in September 2025. "He knew the drill," Ms Oakley said. "He'd been before and he'd spoken with [the husband] about [the wife] not being conscious." Ms Oakley said of the woman: "She wasn't playing at any sleep fantasy. She was unconscious."
Defendants and charges
David Graves, 59, of Milton Avenue, Derbyshire, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; one count of conspiracy to commit assault by penetration; and one count of conspiracy to administer a substance with intent. Robert Stewart, 70, of Sandpiper Drive, Stockport, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; and two counts of rape.
Philip Wild, 58, of St Davids Road, Cheadle, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; one count of conspiracy to commit assault by penetration; one count of sexual assault; one count of attempted rape; and one count of assault by penetration. Daniel Rayner, 42, of Sherwood Drive, Whitstable, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; one count of conspiracy to commit assault by penetration; and one count of conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.
Mohammed Sabir, 28, of no fixed address, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; one count of conspiracy to commit assault by penetration and three counts of rape. Jordan Wallace, 31, of Hindsford Close, Wythenshawe, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; one count of rape; and one count of attempted rape.
Alan Keelan, 42, of Foscarn Drive, Wythenshawe, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; two counts of attempted rape; and one count of assault by penetration. Richard Townsend, 37, of Woodland Street, Heywood, denies one count of conspiracy to assault by penetration; and one count of assault by penetration. Jonathan Kirk, 43, of Telford Close, Macclesfield, denies one count of conspiracy to rape; one count of conspiracy to commit assault by penetration; and one count of rape.
Four other men pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to various offences linked to the case, the jury has been told. They are Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Cleghorn Street, Dundee; Karl Lindsay, 56, of Wordsworth Drive, Taunton; Sean Peers, 38, formerly of Sandwich Road in Eccles, now of Stockport; and Graham Brougham, 74, of Birtwistle Road, Northwich, Cheshire. The trial continues.
