Stockport Man Admits Two Decades of Drugging and Raping His Wife, Submits Witness Statement as Trial of 12 Co-Defendants Awaits Opening

A man in his sixties from the Stockport area of Greater Manchester has provided a witness statement describing his version of events, a jury has been told, after he admitted to drugging and raping his wife without her knowledge over a period spanning more than 20 years.

The defendant, who cannot be identified in order to protect his wife's right to anonymity, had also faced allegations that he invited 13 other men to abuse her between 2018 and November 2025. He initially denied all charges but changed his plea last month, admitting to 60 offences, including rape and administering a substance with intent.

The case is being heard at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, where a jury was sworn in during early September. However, proceedings have since been repeatedly delayed for what the court has described as legal and practical reasons, keeping the panel of jurors in a state of prolonged uncertainty about when they will hear substantive evidence.

Earlier this week, the nine women and three men of the jury, along with two female reserve jurors, were brought back into court and given an update by Judge Maurice Greene. The judge explained that the husband, despite no longer being a defendant in the ongoing trial, had now produced a lengthy written statement about his account of what took place.

Judge Greene told the jury that the statement was substantial and had been disclosed to all defence counsel, noting that it "contains a lot of detail." He added that it comprised "lots of pages and lots of documents," and that lawyers involved in the case were still working through it carefully. That review process, he indicated, remains ongoing.

Jurors had already been informed at a previous hearing that the husband had admitted 60 offences and would therefore no longer stand trial alongside the remaining defendants. His decision to plead guilty removed him from the dock but did not remove him from the case entirely, as his witness statement now forms part of the material that both prosecution and defence teams must consider.

One of the original co-defendants, 59-year-old Keith Fotheringham from Dundee, Scotland, has also entered guilty pleas to several offences. His admissions further narrow the scope of the trial that remains to be heard by the jury.

The prosecution case against the 12 remaining defendants is scheduled to open on Monday, 19 October, when the jury has been asked to return. Those still facing trial include Philip Wild, 58, from Stockport; Sean Peers, 38, from Stockport; Jordan Wallace, 31, from Manchester; Alan Keelan, 42, from Manchester; Jonathan Kirk, 43, from Stockport; and Robert Stewart, 70, from Stockport.

Also due to stand trial are Mohammed Sabir, 28, of no fixed abode; Graham Brougham, 74, from Northwich in Cheshire; Richard Townsend, 37, from Rochdale; Karl Lindsay, 55, from Taunton in Somerset; Daniel Rayner, 42, from Whitstable in Kent; and David Graves, 59, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire. Between them, the group faces a range of charges connected to the alleged abuse of the wife over a period of years.

The case has attracted significant attention because of the extraordinary duration of the admitted offending and the fact that the victim was unaware of what was happening to her for more than two decades. The husband's guilty pleas to administering a substance with intent indicate that he used drugs to incapacitate his wife before committing the offences, a pattern of behaviour that prosecutors say continued undetected for years.

Such cases raise profound questions about coercive control and the ways in which abuse can remain hidden within a marriage. The fact that the offending is alleged to have extended from the husband's actions alone into the involvement of multiple other men between 2018 and 2025 suggests a disturbing escalation in which the victim was allegedly made available to others without her knowledge or consent.

The length of the delay since the jury was sworn in has itself become an issue in the proceedings. Jurors have been required to remain available for a trial that has yet to properly begin, and the judge's decision to keep them informed of developments reflects an effort to manage the disruption to their lives while ensuring the integrity of the legal process is maintained.

The witness statement provided by the husband is expected to be a significant document in the trial of the remaining defendants. Its contents have not been made public, and it remains unclear whether the husband will be called to give oral evidence or whether his written account will be read into the record. Defence counsel will scrutinise the statement closely as they prepare to challenge the prosecution's case.

Legal commentators note that witness statements from co-defendants who have pleaded guilty can be complex and controversial. Such statements may be used to support the prosecution's narrative, but their reliability can be contested, particularly when the author has admitted to serious offences. The judge's remarks that lawyers are going through the material carefully suggest the court is alert to these sensitivities.

The prosecution is due to open its case on 19 October, at which point the jury will finally begin hearing the evidence against the 12 remaining defendants. Until then, the panel has been asked to remain patient as the legal teams continue their preparations. The trial is expected to last for a considerable period given the number of defendants and the volume of evidence involved.

For the victim, whose anonymity is protected by law, the process represents a continuation of a ordeal that began without her knowledge and has now become the subject of intense public scrutiny. Support services for survivors of sexual violence emphasise that cases of this nature can take an enormous psychological toll, particularly when the abuse is perpetrated by a spouse over many years.

As the case moves towards its next stage, the focus will shift to the 12 defendants who continue to deny the charges against them. The husband's admissions and his written account will form part of the backdrop against which their trial unfolds, and the jury will ultimately be asked to determine whether the prosecution has proved its case against each of them beyond reasonable doubt.

The hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court has been adjourned until later this month, when the prosecution will begin to lay out its case in full.