United Kingdom: Man who drugged and raped his wife for twenty years had more than a million images of the incident

These are images which show the horror of the abuse and unfortunately recall the Pelicot affair. In the UK, a man who drugged and raped his wife for more than twenty years and allegedly invited strangers to participate had "more than a million photographs and videos" on his phone documenting the abuse.

Rape in the marital home with other men

The court in Manchester, in the northwest of England, is trying nine men accused of various sexual offenses against a woman abused by her husband, a sixty-year-old who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.

The husband filmed and shared images, on "the internet and social media applications", with "other like-minded men", prosecutor Louise Oakley told the court on Monday. Some of the defendants allegedly “acted behind a screen” and conspired with the husband for years to administer substances to his wife, so that she could be “used and abused”. Then, starting in 2023, the husband began inviting men to the marital home and filmed himself raping her and others while she was unconscious.

It is the second such case currently on trial in Britain, with the trial of four other men opening last week in Winchester in the South. Global awareness of the crime of drug-facilitated sexual assault has increased with the trial in France of Dominique Pelicot, who drugged and raped his wife Gisèle for nearly a decade with the participation of strangers.

The horror behind “a facade of respectability”

In Manchester, the prosecutor told the jury that the husband's phone, seized during his arrest, was like a "confessional" containing "barbaric sexual fantasies" dating back to 2004. "There were more than a million photographs and videos documenting not only the abuse he inflicted on his wife, but also that committed against her by others, including those who are in the dock today," Louise Oakley said. “There is no doubt that he led a double life masked by a facade of respectability,” she added.

The husband pleaded guilty in September to approximately 60 sexual offenses against his partner, including administering a substance with the intent to stupefy or control her. He is accused along with 13 other men, four of whom have also pleaded guilty to various offences.

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The remaining nine, aged between 28 and 70, deny various charges including rape, sexual assault and conspiracy to administer a specified substance with intent. They include a doctor, a taxi driver, a recruitment agency employee and another from a construction materials supplier.