Nine men on trial over abuse of Stockport woman drugged by husband
Nine men are on trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, accused of either taking part in abuse at a Stockport couple's home or encouraging it online, The Guardian reported. The case concerns the woman's husband, who is in his 60s and has pleaded guilty to multiple offences against her committed over more than 20 years. He cannot be named in order to protect his wife's anonymity.
The trial opened in early November. Prosecutors say the woman was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted in her own home while she was unconscious after being drugged. The prosecution case is being presented by Louise Oakley KC, a senior barrister (King's Counsel) acting for the Crown.
According to the prosecution, the husband met defendant Robert Stewart, 70, who also lived in Stockport, on Craigslist, an online classified advertising site, in 2015. Stewart allegedly supplied the husband with antidepressants and tramadol, a painkiller, on the understanding that the husband would invite him to the home if his wife was unconscious. The husband also searched news websites and online forums for information on date rape drugs, GHB and sleeping tablets.
David Graves, 60, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, is accused of supplying tablets to drug the woman in return for imagery of the abuse. The husband allegedly asked Graves to post the tablets to the empty house of a recently deceased close relative of his wife.
Philip Wild, 58, a taxi driver from Stockport, is accused of visiting the couple's home in August 2023 and touching the woman sexually while she was unconscious and unable to consent. The husband allegedly put Wild in touch with Graham Brougham, who lived close to the couple's address, and the men discussed having sex with the woman over WhatsApp, a messaging app. The group was first named with a pseudonym the husband used for his wife online, and was later renamed "Taxi".
Oakley told the jury on the second day of the prosecution case that the husband's interaction with Stewart was his blueprint for future offending.
