World · Europe · 4 hrs ago
Nine men go on trial over alleged abuse of woman drugged by husband
Nine men have gone on trial in Manchester, England, accused of taking part in or helping to enable the abuse of a woman.
Prosecutors say her husband drugged and sexually assaulted her over more than 20 years, and pleaded guilty to offences against her.
They say he began inviting other men to the couple’s home from at least 2023, while she was unconscious.
Seven defendants are accused of visiting the home; two are accused of encouraging or helping the abuse online, and all nine deny the charges.
Four other men have already pleaded guilty to sexual offences connected to the case.
Police uncovered the abuse after investigators found an online group where the husband had discussed it, then seized a phone containing more than a million photos and videos, prosecutors say.
The case is being heard at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, and the husband remains in custody awaiting sentencing.
The nine defendants’ trial will determine whether they are guilty of the charges they deny.
Nine men went on trial in Manchester on 2 November 2026, accused of participating in or helping facilitate the abuse of a woman drugged and sexually assaulted by her husband.
Prosecutors say the husband abused his wife for more than 20 years and began inviting other men to their home from at least 2023.
Seven defendants are alleged to have visited the couple’s home, while two are accused of encouraging or helping the abuse online.
The husband pleaded guilty to multiple offences against his wife and cannot be named to protect her privacy.
The nine men on trial deny all charges.
- Who
- Nine men accused of abusing or helping to abuse a woman; her husband has pleaded guilty to offences against her.
- What
- The men are on trial over alleged sexual abuse of a woman who prosecutors say was drugged and unconscious. They deny all charges.
- When
- The trial began on 2 November 2026. The alleged offences involving the nine men are said to have taken place between 2015 and the husband’s arrest in 2025.
- Where
- Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, in England. The alleged abuse took place at the couple’s home in Stockport.
- Why
- Prosecutors say the men participated in or helped facilitate the abuse, and that some derived sexual gratification from the woman’s unconsciousness.
Prosecution
Nine defendants
Alleged consent
Prosecution
Prosecutors say the woman was unconscious and did not consent, and that the men knew or should have known she was not consenting.
Nine defendants
The defendants deny all charges.
Nature of the activity
Prosecution
Prosecutors say the alleged acts were rape and sexual assault, not consensual sexual practices.
Nine defendants
Not stated
The husband shared videos and images online of himself abusing his unconscious wife, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say the husband began inviting other men to the couple’s home to abuse his wife.
Police came to the home and told the woman about the abuse, according to prosecutors.
The husband pleaded guilty to multiple offences against his wife, CNN reported.
The trial of the nine men began at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
- Defendants on trial
- 9 men
- Alleged abuse period
- 2015 to the husband’s arrest in 2025
- Alleged visitors to the home
- 7 of the 9 defendants
- Online non-contact defendants
- 2
- Husband’s phone
- More than 1 million photographs and videos, prosecutors said
- Court
- Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court
3 sources
What people are saying
What these men did was not participation in unconventional, but consensual sexual practices: in this case it was rape and sexual assault, pure and simple.
From 2023 onwards … he began actually inviting other men round to their home, and, whilst his wife lay unconscious in their bed, he filmed himself and others raping and sexually abusing her.
Their depravity seems to have had no bounds.