A man on trial over the drugging and rape of a woman by her husband allegedly messaged him with a warning referencing the Gisèle Pelicot case, a court has heard. Robert Stewart, 70, is among nine men on trial over allegations he took part in the abuse of a woman by her husband.
The husband, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his wife, allegedly took pleasure in the fact that she was unaware of their offending as part of their “barbaric fantasies” to drug and sexually abuse her while taking and sharing photos and videos of the abuse, a jury has heard.
Warning Message Cited Pelicot Case
At the start of their trial at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, Louise Oakley KC told jurors that “the man in France” referred to the world-famous case of Gisèle Pelicot.
Ms Oakley, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury that Stewart had messaged the husband within hours of visiting their home and told him: “Mate have had a bad feeling about it all day. Delete all images from your phone etc as its too risky.
“Remember what happened to the guy in France. Delete me from your phone and life. If she caught you out it would be a whole lot of trouble and end your marriage and ruin your life.”
Ms Oakley told the jury: “As you will no doubt remember, ‘the guy in France’, the man in France, who had been raping his wife, a lady by the name of Gisele Pelicot.”
Alleged Abuse Over 20 Years
It is alleged the husband, in his 60s from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and the nine defendants “led double lives” and had hidden their depravity, which “knew no bounds”. Ms Oakley told the court that “unbeknownst” to the woman, her husband had been abusing her sexually in a variety of different ways while she was asleep or unconscious.
The husband initially took advantage of occasions when she had drunk too much alcohol to put her into a deep sleep, the court was told. But Ms Oakley said on “many more occasions, more and more frequently over that 20-year-period” he deliberately used a “cocktail of stupefying drugs” which he gave to her without her knowledge.
Ms Oakley said: “(The husband) filmed and photographed his exploits, and had begun sharing that imagery online across the internet and social media applications, and he did so with other like-minded men. Men who enjoyed not just the explicit or pornographic nature of the imagery, but who enjoyed the fact that she was asleep or unconscious, entirely unaware of what was being done to her.”
Men Invited to Home
From 2023 onwards at the latest, the prosecutor said, the husband began inviting other men round to their home. While his wife lay unconscious in their bed, he filmed himself and others raping and sexually abusing her, said Ms Oakley.
The prosecutor said all the defendants knew the wife was not a willing participant, was not consenting and they did not reasonably believe she was consenting. All the defendants have pleaded not guilty to multiple alleged offences.
The trial, which is expected to last around three months, continues on Tuesday. Four other men have pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to various offences linked to the case. They are Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Dundee; Karl Lindsay, 56, of Taunton; Sean Peers, 38, of Stockport, and Graham Brougham, 74, of Northwich, Cheshire.
