Beastiality photos prompted police probe into Tory councillor who advertised wife on the internet

Beastiality photos prompted police probe into Tory councillor who advertised wife on the internet A trial is taking place into four men who are accused of sexually abusing Philip Young's wife after he advertised on the internet for her to be assaulted, a court heard A probe into a husband accused of advertising for men to sexually abuse his wife began while police investigated extreme pornographic images. Police then came across intimate photos of Philip Young's wife during the investigation, the trial of four men also accused of sexually abusing her has heard. Former Tory councillor Young has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of drugging and sexually abusing his wife Joanne, during a 13-year period at their home in Swindon, Wiltshire. Four other men are on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of sexually abusing her. Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, told the jury that the investigation started when officers went to talk to Young on July 4 2023 about an extreme pornographic image that they had been alerted to. The trial has heard that Wiltshire Police had been notified that the user of a Kik account linked to Young had uploaded three extreme beastiality images to the internet on June 10 2023. Ms Jones explained that when Young gave access to his phone to check for the image, they found a number of other “intimate” images of his wife. She said: “In short, that led to identification of images that show intimate images of Joanne Young had been shared from the device, taken on the device and shared. “The investigation was much wider and all Mr Young’s devices were seized and the investigation begun.” The jury, made up of eight men and four women, was then shown photographs and a walk-through video of the house including the converted loft bedroom where some of the alleged abuse is said to have taken place. They have also been shown redacted versions of videos of the alleged sexual abuse by three of the defendants and were provided with “neutral” written summaries of what was depicted in the footage. The court was cleared for only the jury, defendants, barristers and Mrs Young in the public gallery to watch the videos which have previously been shown to the jury in an unredacted form. The four defendants in the trial, who have been charged jointly with Young, are Norman Macksoni, 48, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, who has denied one count of rape; and Richard Wilkins, 62, of Toothill, Swindon, Wiltshire, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and one of assault by penetration. Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, of Swindon, has denied sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching; and Mohammed Hassan, 38, of Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual touching. Young, 50, has pleaded guilty to a total of 56 charges, and a sixth defendant, Dean Hamilton, 47, of Street, Somerset, has admitted one charge of assault by penetration, two of sexual assault and one of rape. They will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trial. The trial continues.