Nine Men Face Trial in Alleged Drugging, Rape Case
Husband pleaded guilty to two decades of abuse, while prosecution claims defendants led 'double lives' to fulfil 'barbaric fantasies'.
Carla Rooney
Nine men are on trial accused of involvement in the abuse of a woman allegedly drugged, raped, and sexually assaulted by her husband.
The alleged abuse began more than two decades ago. The husband administered a 'cocktail of stupefying drugs' to his wife, rendering her unconscious.
Louise Oakley KC stated the husband began sharing 'imagery online across the internet and social media applications' with other 'like-minded men' during this period.
From 2023, the husband 'actually invit[ed] other men round to their home whilst his wife lay unconscious in their bed,' where he 'filmed himself and them raping and sexually abusing her,' Louise Oakley KC confirmed.
The men were either creeping in and out of the marital home in the hours of darkness or hiding behind screens of their mobile telephones and computers, believing they were safe.
The husband's offending came to light after undercover journalists infiltrated a chat on the Telegram messaging platform. His seized mobile phone contained over a million photographs and videos documenting the abuse.
The prosecution claims the nine men on trial also led double lives. They derived sexual gratification from the victim's unawareness or unconscious state.
Footage of the abuse would be posted 'within minutes' or sometimes even while the abuse was ongoing.
The prosecution asserts that suggestions the victim pretended to be asleep or unconscious as part of a fantasy role play are a smokescreen. They maintain the men's actions constituted rape and sexual assault, not participation in unconventional but consensual sexual practices.
The men were either 'creeping in and out of the marital home in the hours of darkness or hiding behind screens of their mobile telephones and computers, believing they were safe,' the prosecution claims. Two of the accused are 'non-contact offenders' who allegedly encouraged abuse online.
The defendants all deny a variety of sexual offences. The prosecution claims these acts intended to fulfil their 'barbaric fantasies.'
Louise Oakley KC claims the group 'conspired at various times over the years,' up to the husband’s arrest last October, 'to rape and sexually assault (the wife), and to administer substances to her so that her body could be used and abused.'
Three other men and Karl Lindsay have already admitted to abusing the woman at previous hearings. Keith Fotheringham, Sean Peers, Graham Brougham, and Karl Lindsay have also pleaded guilty to a number of offenses.