Jury sworn in for trial of husband accused of drugging and raping wife with 12 others
BBCA jury has been sworn in for the trial of a man accused of drugging and raping his wife for almost 20 years before allegedly inviting other men to join the abuse.
The husband, who cannot be named to protect his wife's legal right to anonymity, has already admitted 15 charges including rape.
However he denies 33 other counts and will stand trial alongside 12 other men at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester.
Prosecutors allege the men sexually abused the victim at her home in the Stockport area of Greater Manchester, while she was drugged and completely unaware of what was happening.
A 14th defendant, 59-year-old Keith Fotheringham from Dundee, Scotland, has pleaded guilty to all four charges he faced including conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration, conspiracy to administer a substance with intent and assault by penetration.
The husband's alleged offending dates back to 2004 while the other men are accused of joining in the abuse between September 2018 until November 2025 - when the arrests were made.
A jury of nine women and three men, as well as two female reserve jurors, who will sit until the prosecution has finished opening its case, were formally sworn in earlier.
ADAM VAUGHAN/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockLead counsel for the prosecution, Louise Oakley KC, is due to open the case on Wednesday.
In the dock alongside the victim's husband, who is in his 60s, are:
- Philip Wild, 58, from Stockport, charged with conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration, sexual assault, attempted rape and assault by penetration
- Sean Peers, 38, from Stockport, charged with assault by penetration and conspiracy to assault by penetration
- Jordan Wallace, 31, from Manchester, charged with conspiracy to rape, rape, and attempted rape
- Alan Keelan, 42, from Manchester, charged with conspiracy to rape and two counts of rape
- Jonathan Kirk, 43, from Stockport, charged with rape, conspiracy to rape, and conspiracy to assault by penetration
- Robert Stewart, 70, from Stockport, charged with two counts of rape and conspiracy to rape
- Mohammed Sabir, 28, of no fixed abode, charged with conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration, and three counts of rape
- Graham Brougham, 74, from Northwich, Cheshire, charged with conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and rape
- Richard Townsend, 37, from Rochdale, charged with conspiracy to assault by penetration and assault by penetration
The following men are not accused of contact offences against the victim, but are alleged to have conspired to abuse her in other ways:
- Karl Lindsay, 55, from Taunton, Somerset, charged with conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent
- Daniel Rayner, 42, from, Whitstable, Kent, charged with charged with conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent
- David Graves, 59, from, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, charged with conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent
The trial is estimated to last for about 15 weeks.
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