Raped wife could have died from drugs given by husband, court hears

Warning: This article contains distressing content

A woman who was unconscious while raped by her husband and sexually assaulted by other men was knocked out with drugs that could have killed her, a jury has been told.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, prosecutor Louise Oakley told the jury the victim, from the Stockport area, was found to have 11 non-prescribed drugs in her system including morphine, ketamine, diazepam, cocaine and zolpidem.

The court also heard the husband - who has admitted committing the offences against his wife without her knowledge and allowing other men to engage in sexual activity with her at their home - researched different drugs and the dangers of combining them with alcohol.

Nine men who are on trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court deny a range of charges including rape and sexual assault.

On the third day of opening the prosecution's case, Oakley told the court that after the husband was arrested, a sample of his wife's hair had been taken and sent for testing by a toxicologist

The court also heard that between October 2014 and October 2025, the husband had extensively searched the internet trying to find information about medication, prescription and illicit substances, their effects, dosage, how to buy them and the dangers of mixing the drugs with alcohol.

When the husband was arrested, pipettes with zolpidem were found in the couple's bedroom.

The trial heard that when mixed with alcohol, the drugs could be fatal.

Philip Wild, 59, and Mohammed Sabir, 28, both from Stockport, are alleged to also have met the husband through fabswingers,com and to have sexually abused his wife in early 2025 on a single night after they were invited to the couple's address.

Alleged contact offenders who visited the couple's home are taxi driver Wild; recruitment agency worker Sabir; building supplies employee Wallace, 31; industrial cleaning firm worker Alan Keelan, 42; retiree Robert Stewart, 70; sheet metal worker Richard Townsend, 38; and senior paramedic Jonathan Kirk, 43.

The prosecution alleges two non-contact offenders, who "hid behind a screen" as they conspired to administer substances to the wife, are kitchen firm sales rep David Graves, 60 and self-employed mechanic Daniel Rayner, 42.

Stewart, of Stockport, denies rape, conspiracy to rape and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.

Graves, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, denies conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.

Wild denies sexual assault, attempted rape, assault by penetration and conspiracy to rape. Rayner denies conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.

Sabir denies rape and conspiracy to rape. Wallace denies rape and attempted rape. Keelan denies attempted rape and assault by penetration.

Townsend, of Heywood, Greater Manchester, denies assault by penetration. Kirk, of Stockport, denies rape and conspiracy to rape.

The offences are said to have taken place on dates between 2015 and 2025.

The husband, who cannot be identified to protect his wife's anonymity, will be sentenced at a later date.

Four other men who pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to various offences linked to the case will also be sentenced later.

They are Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Dundee, Scotland; Karl Lindsay, 56, of Taunton, Somerset; Sean Peers, 38, of Stockport; and Graham Brougham, 74, of Northwich, Cheshire.

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