Philip Young pleads guilty to abuse of former wife as four other men are tried

Philip Young, 50, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of abuse against his former wife, Joanne Young, according to The Guardian. Four other men are being tried at Winchester Crown Court, the centre for serious criminal cases heard before a jury, on charges that they sexually assaulted her.

Joanne Young, 49, has waived her right to anonymity, which means she may be named in reporting. The couple married in 2004 and have three children, who are now young adults. The family home referred to in the case is in Swindon, Wiltshire.

The four defendants are Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, Richard Wilkins, 62, Norman Macksoni, 48, and Mohammed Hassan, 38. All four deny the offences. The alleged offences are said to have taken place between the summer of 2016 and the winter of 2023. The jury is made up of eight men and four women.

Prosecutor Sarah Jones KC, a senior barrister, told the court that Philip Young advertised his then-wife on dating websites and on swinging websites, where couples seek partners outside their relationship. He presented it as a kink for both of them, the prosecution said. Jones told jurors that Philip Young sedated Joanne Young into an inanimate state, and that men who answered the adverts could then assault her while she was restrained and blindfolded.

Philip Young is a former Conservative councillor, according to the BBC. In December 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service, the body that brings criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, said six men had been charged with more than 60 sexual offences against a woman over a 13-year period. Philip Young was remanded into custody ahead of a hearing at Swindon Magistrates' Court, the lower court that handles initial hearings. He appeared at Winchester Crown Court in January 2026, when he was 49 and living in Enfield.

Five other men have previously appeared in court charged with sexual offences against Joanne Young. In February, Dean Hamilton, 46, pleaded guilty to raping Philip Young's ex-wife, the BBC reported. The BBC has also reported that Philip Young admitted drugging and raping his wife over a 13-year period, and admitted child abuse image charges.

Earlier in the case's history, a packet of a sedative drug posted to Philip Young from India was intercepted at customs in 2015. Police visited him after the seizure, and he denied knowledge of the drug.