Four men go on trial accused of sexually assaulting former Swindon Tory councillor's wife
The four men deny the offences against Joanne Young, who has waived her legal right to anonymity
A jury has been sworn in for the trial of four men accused of sexually assaulting the wife of a former Swindon Tory councillor who has admitted multiple charges of abuse against her.
Philip Young, 50, has pleaded guilty to repeating drugging and raping his former wife, Joanne Young, who has waived her right to anonymity, over a 13-year period.
Four men Young is alleged to have recruited to abuse Mrs Young at their Swindon home have now gone on trial at Winchester Crown Court.
The four defendants jointly charged with Young, who has admitted his role in the offences, are:
- 48-year-old Norman Macksoni, from Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, has denied one count of rape.
- 62-year-old Richard Wilkins, from Toothill, Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and one count of assault by penetration.
- 32-year-old Connor Sanderson-Doyle, from Swindon, has denied sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching.
- 38-year-old Mohammed Hassan, from Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual touching.
Mr Justice Saini informed the jury that Young had previously pleaded guilty to the same offences as the defendants.
He said: “The fact that Mr Young has pleaded guilty to those charges is evidence of his guilt of that charge but it is not evidence that these defendants are guilty of the offences with which they are charged.
“That is because the evidence against Mr Young is different in part to the evidence against these defendants.
“For example, as you will hear, Mr Young has pleaded guilty to many offences committed against Joanne Young over many years which includes admitting that he administered drugs to Mrs Young in order to commit sexual offences against her.
“Mr Young knew at the time he committed those acts that Joanne Young was not consenting to what was happening and therefore it was impossible for him to have any belief, especially not a reasonable one, that she was consenting.
“By contrast it is not suggested that any of these defendants administered any substance to Mrs Young or were present when it was administered although the prosecution say the effects were apparent.”
Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, told the court today (27 October) Mrs Young had been unaware of the attacks against her, with only a “nightmare” sense of another person being present by her bed.
The court also heard that Mrs Young, who said she was “emphatically monogamous” with “vanilla” sexual tastes, would also wake up to find herself blindfolded and with handcuffs on with no idea that she had been abused.
Ms Jones said Mrs Young first recalled an incident after she had fallen asleep following a night out.
Ms Jones said: "She recalled she 'had the blindfold on and the restraints, kind of all the wrist things on.
"And we'd been having sex and I felt someone else's hand on my wrist and it wasn't his (Phil's) hand because he was, he was still almost at the end of the bed on me kind of, and the, the hand was over there, so it was not the same person'."
The prosecutor added: "It turned out of course that she had stumbled upon the edges of a far greater issue in her relationship.
"That Phil's behaviour had not been limited to inviting a single man in simply for the purposes of watching the two of them having sex.
"What she had considered to be already a gross invasion, a betrayal of her trust was far far more invasive and shocking."
Jurors were also told by Ms Jones that Young had advertised Joanne Young on Craigslist, Grindr and swinging websites.
Ms Jones said: "He sought strangers to come and sleep with his wife, any age, any race – but as close to Swindon as possible so that when the circumstances were right they could be seized upon immediately.
"He presented it as a kink for both of them but there was no information from Joanne herself to support this and the photos he posted of her to advertise his offer showed her inanimate and tied to the bed blindfolded.
"The nightcap they shared it appeared would be used to plunge her into a state where anything could be done to her by whoever answered and she would be unaware or unable to remember."
Philip Young, formally of Swindon, but most recently of Enfield in London, has pleaded guilty to a total 56 charges.
A sixth defendant, Dean Hamilton, 47, of Street, Somerset, has admitted one charge of assault by penetration, two of sexual assault and one of rape.
Young and Hamilton will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks.
The four men deny the offences and the trial continues.