Husband used 'cocktail of drugs on wife before filming himself sexually abuse her over 20-year campaign'

Husband used 'cocktail of drugs on wife before filming himself sexually abuse her over 20-year campaign' Graham Broughton is one of several men on trial at Manchester Minshull Street crown, accused of sexually abusing a woman who it is said was drugged by her husband A husband used a “cocktail of stupefying drugs” on his wife before filming himself sexually abusing her over 20 years and sharing the footage online, a court has heard. The man also began inviting others to their house and “whilst his wife lay unconscious in their bed, he filmed himself and others raping and sexually abusing her”. A jury heard these men took pleasure not only in the sexual acts they performed but in the fact the wife was “unaware” it was happening. Louise Oakley KC, prosecuting at Manchester Minshull Street crown told them “that was the whole point and part of their barbaric fantasies”. Nine men have gone on trial court accused of a number of sexual offences against the woman - who is entitled to lifelong anonymity. The husband - a man in his 60s from the Stockport area - has previously pleaded guilty to 62 charges. He admitted offences of rape; assault by penetration; administering a substance with intent; sexual assault; attempted rape; and sharing intimate photographs or film. Four other men have also pleaded guilty to a variety of offences. The court heard the wife was “entirely unaware” the abuse was happening and, in October 2025, “the life she knew ended” when the police knocked on the front door of her home to arrest her husband. Ms Oakley said “unbeknownst to her”, for over 20 years, her husband had been abusing her sexually in a variety of ways whilst she was asleep or was unconscious. He would initially take advantage of occasions when she had drunk enough alcohol herself to put her into a deep sleep, “but also on many more occasions, more and more frequently, over that 20 year period, deliberately using a cocktail of stupefying drugs which he administered to her without her knowledge, with or without alcohol”. The court heard the husband “filmed and photographed his exploits” and had begun sharing that imagery online across the internet and social media applications with other like-minded men. Ms Oakley described them as “men who enjoyed not just the explicit or pornographic nature of the imagery”, but who enjoyed the fact that she was asleep or unconscious, entirely unaware of what was being done to her. She said the men not only enjoyed receiving this imagery, but actively encouraged him to commit further offences against his wife. They would advise him as to what to administer, how to do it, so as to incapacitate her just enough to allow him to continue with his abuse, but not so much that she realised that anything was wrong. Ms Oakley said the defendants were among those individuals who would “hide behind a screen”, but who conspired at various time over the years, up to his arrest, to rape and sexually assault his wife. She said: “They derived sexual gratification and enjoyment from knowing that she was ‘unaware’ and ‘out of it’. These discussions took place across various online platforms, using accounts and handles that disguised their real identities. “They involved the sharing of his growing collection of imagery, and lengthy discussions with him about what he had done to his wife, what he was going to do, and how he was going to achieve it without her knowledge, using drugs surreptitiously administered to her, to stupefy or overpower her.” Ms Oakley said: “It is difficult to conceive how such offending could get worse, but it did.” From 2023 onwards at the latest, though he had been talking about it for much longer, the husband began inviting other men round to their home, and, while his wife lay unconscious in their bed, he filmed himself and others raping and sexually abusing her. The court heard they were well aware that his wife was not conscious, “that is why they were there, to use her body whilst she was unaware”. Her husband shared imagery of the ‘visits’, not only with those he had invited round to the house, but others online. He would often share the imagery within minutes of an event and also during an event taking place. The prosecution said “some men knew there were other men involved; others may not have; some men may only have known that she was incapacitated through drink, not that she had been drugged. That is reflected in the different charges they face”. Ms Oakley said: “But they all knew” that the wife “was not a willing participant in this activity, that she was not consenting, and they did not reasonably believe she was consenting to what they were doing. She could not – she had absolutely no idea it was going on.” That was until the police came to her door and she was identified as the subject of the videos taken by her husband, the court was told. The jury was told during the course of this case they will hear references to unconventional sexual practices, such as “swinging” and other “kinks”. The prosecution said it may be suggested to the jury the imagery they will see is posed, and that the wife was only pretending to be asleep or unconscious as part of a fantasy role play with her husband. Ms Oakley said: “The prosecution says that is a smokescreen: what these men did was not participation in unconventional, but consensual sexual practices: it was rape and sexual assault, pure and simple.” She said the images and videos taken by the husband which the jury “are regrettably going to have to see” would leave them in no doubt the wife was not playing a game, adding: “She was not posing or pretending and was not engaged in any roleplay.” The court was told the couple led an “uneventful” marriage. They enjoyed their garden, socialising and holidays abroad. For much of their marriage they had what the wife describes as a “normal” sex life but they had not had sex for about nine years. Ms Oakley said: ‘She had never agreed to or been aware of anyone else being involved in sexual activity with them during the course of their marriage.” The nine men on trial, who deny a range of offences, are David Graves, 60, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire; Daniel Rayner, 42, of Whitstable, Kent; Philip Wild, 59, of Stockport; Mohammed Sabir, 28, of Stockport; Jonathan Kirk, 43, of Stockport; Jordan Wallace, 31, of Wythenshawe, Manchester; Alan Keelan, 42, of Wythenshawe; Robert Stewart, 70, of Stockport, and Richard Townsend, 38, of Heywood, Greater Manchester. The case continues.