Nine men accused of sexually abusing an unconscious wife were snared after over a million photographs and videos were found on her husband’s phone, a court heard today.
The group ‘derived sexual gratification and enjoyment’ from the ‘use and abuse’ of the woman, who was given a ‘cocktail of stupefying drugs’, jurors were told.
The husband’s black Samsung S25 ‘acted like a confessional’ which ‘provided police with almost a script’ cataloguing the abuse.
Prosecutor Louise Oakley, KC, highlighted a message from one of the accused to the husband after he visited, urging him to delete all pictures, and warning: ‘Remember what happened to the guy in France‘.
‘The reference in the message related to the man in France who had been raping his wife, a lady by the name of Giselle Pelicot,’ Ms Oakley said.
Opening the case this afternoon, Ms Oakley told jurors at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court that footage of the wife was ‘taken without her consent’, where she was ‘obviously unconscious’.
Jonathan Kirk, accused of two rapes, is among nine men charged with abuse of the wife
Kirk obscured his face and wore sunglasses as he arrived at Minshull Street Crown Court for a hearing earlier this year
Defendant Robert Stewart, 70, a divorced father of two and grandfather who used to be a DJ
Married father-of-two Alan Keelan, 42, pictured at a football club awards presentation
Keelan covered his face with his hood as he arrived at court for an earlier hearing in March
She said the abuse came to light when ‘undercover journalists infiltrated a chat group’ on the Telegram messaging app.
After the husband’s arrest, examination of his phone revealed his ‘darkest secrets’ with ‘over a million photographs and videos’, the court heard.
On trial are Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic; Robert Stewart, 70, a retired DJ; Mohammed Sabir, 28, a businessman; youth football coach Alan Keelan, 42; dog walker Jordan Wallace, 31; taxi driver Philip Wild, 59; metal worker Richard Townsend, 38; David Graves, 60, and Daniel Rayner, 42.
All deny a variety of sexual offences.
In September, the woman’s husband of 40 years admitted 62 charges including multiple rapes, jurors were told.
He cannot be named to protect his wife’s identity.
Ms Oakley said the husband ‘lived a double life masked in respectability’ but ‘hid dark and depraved secrets’ which involved drugging and raping his wife for over 20 years until his arrest last October.
Of the other men, Ms Oakley added: ‘Their depravity, also, we’d suggest, had no bounds. They, too, were living double lives’.
Ms Oakley said the group ‘conspired’… ‘to administer substances to her so that her body could be used and abused’.
Dog walker and delivery driver Jordan Wallace, 31, from Stockport, is also among the accused
Wallace arrives at Minshull Street Crown Court as a group of men stand trial charged with serious sexual offences against the same woman in Manchester
The court heard the husband began sharing images and videos of the abuse online over 10 years ago – but his ‘deepening perversion’ meant he ‘wanted to share her’.
From 2023, the husband began ‘actually inviting other men round to their home whilst his wife lay unconscious in their bed’, when he ‘filmed himself and them raping and sexually abusing her’, Ms Oakley said.
The men would arrive at the four-bedroom house in Stockport, Greater Manchester, ‘quietly and carefully after dark’, jurors heard.
Footage would be posted ‘within minutes’ or sometimes even while abuse was ongoing, the court was told. Jurors were shown two of the videos.
Ms Oakley said the wife ‘had absolutely no idea what was going on’ – but the men ‘knew that she was not a willing participant’.
The court heard the ‘life (the woman) knew ended’ when police knocked on the door of the family home.
Ms Oakley said defence claims the wife was ‘only pretending to be asleep or unconscious as part of a fantasy role play’ was ‘a smokescreen’.
The court heard the husband began sharing images and videos of the abuse online over 10 years ago – but his ‘deepening perversion’ meant he ‘wanted to share her’.
Father-of-three Philip Wild, 58, Stockport, a taxi driver, is accused of attempted rape
Mohammed Sabir, 28, is the youngest defendant and denies three counts of rape
Richard Townsend, 37, denies two sexual offences against the same woman as the other men
David Graves, 60, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, denies three charges
Ms Oakley said the wife and her husband, who had been together 44 years, both lived ‘busy lives’, enjoyed regular holidays abroad and her husband was still working.
When interviewed by police, the woman said that ‘to her knowledge, they had never taken photographs or videos of themselves engaged in sexual activity and she and her husband had not, to her knowledge, had sex for nine years’.
Ms Oakley told jurors Stewart sent a message to the husband after he visited the house, urging him to ‘delete all images’ and saying ‘remember what happened to the guy in France’.
He wrote: ‘Mate have had a bad feeling about it all day. Delete all images from your phone etc as its too risky. Remember what happened to the guy in France.
‘Delete me from your phone and life. If she caught you out it would be a whole lot of trouble and end your marriage and ruin your life.’
‘The reference in the message related to the man in France who had been raping his wife, a lady by the name of Giselle Pelicot,’ Ms Oakley said.
Stewart, Wild, Sabir and Kirk, all of Stockport, Greater Manchester, Graves, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and Rayner, of Whitstable, Kent, deny conspiracy to rape between 2015 and 2025.
Graves and Rayner also deny conspiracy to assault by penetration between 2018 and 2025, while Stewart, Graves and Rayner deny conspiracy to administer a substance ‘with the intention of stupefying or overpowering’ the wife between 2015 and 2025.
Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, where the husband admitted 62 charges
Sean Peers, 37, has admitted offences between September 2024 and November 2025
University technician Keith Fotheringham, 59, previously admitted his role in abuse
Former Taunton Town Football Club CEO Karl Lindsay, 56, has admitted charges
Graham Brougham, 74, is the oldest of 14 defendants charged over the attacks
Wild is also charged with sexual assault in August 2023, plus attempted rape and assault by penetration in February 2025. Sabir denies three rapes, in February 2025 and twice in September 2025.
Wallace, of Stockport, denies rape and attempted rape in May 2025, Keelen, from Manchester, denies two attempted rapes and an assault by penetration, all in June 2025.
Townsend, of Heywood, Greater Manchester, denies assault by penetration in July 2025, while Kirk denies two rapes in August 2025. Stewart denies two rapes in September 2025.
Four other men – Karl Lindsay, 56, of Taunton, Somerset, Graham Brougham, 74, of Northwich, Cheshire, Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Dundee, and Sean Peers, 38, of Stockport – have also pleaded guilty to various sexual offences at earlier hearings.
