Wife raped by husband over 20 years 'found with cocktail of 11 drugs in her system'

Wife raped by husband over 20 years 'found with cocktail of 11 drugs in her system' Toxicology tests carried out on a strand of the woman’s hair detected traces of several substances, including morphine, cocaine, ketamine, tranquilisers and sedatives A wife raped by her husband over a 20-year period was found with a “potentially fatal” cocktail of 11 drugs in her system, a court heard. Toxicology tests on a strand of the woman’s hair found traces of substances including morphine, cocaine, ketamine, tranquilizers and sedatives, the court was told. Jurors were informed the wife had said the only medication she took regularly were multi-vitamins and blood pressure and heartburn tablets prescribed by her GP. Manchester Minshull Street crown court previously heard the husband used a “cocktail of stupefying drugs” on his wife before filming himself sexually abusing her and sharing the footage online. A jury has now been told he invited other men he met online to their house and, while his wife lay unconscious in their marital bed, he filmed himself and others raping and sexually abusing her. Her husband, in his 60s, has pleaded guilty to 62 offences, including rape; assault by penetration; administering a substance with intent; sexual assault; attempted rape; and sharing intimate photographs or film. The court has heard the alleged abuse had continued until October last year when undercover journalists infiltrated online messaging groups where footage was being shared. They contacted police and the husband was traced to his home in the Stockport area and arrested. Louise Oakley KC, prosecuting, told the jury after admitting sexually abusing his wife the husband said he would be “willing to give evidence against those who he had offended with”. She said: “He says he wants to tell the truth” and wanted his wife and family to “know the truth, to know what happened,” adding: “He is not doing it to get a reduced sentence. He fully expects to die in prison for what he has done.” Ms Oakley said he accepts that what he did to his wife “was down to him, that he was the one in control. Without him, none of it would have happened”. Nine men have gone on trial accused of a number of sexual offences against the woman — who is entitled to lifelong anonymity. Four other men have already admitted to offences against her. The court heard the wife provided a sample of her hair for testing following her husband’s arrest. The results arising from this hair sample “could represent eight months of exposure to drugs”, the court was told. Ms Oakley told the court the effect of the drugs, when combined with alcohol, were “unpredictable” and “could have been fatal”. An 8cm piece of hair was taken from the wife and sent to a specialist laboratory in France. She said: “Blood or urine samples only detect substances for hours or a few days, whereas hair analysis can provide a historical timeline of exposure spanning weeks, months or even up to a year depending on the length of a person’s hair. Such analysis can therefore detect long term exposure to drugs and other prescription medications.” Ms Oakley said: ‘None of the drugs or medications detected in her hair had been prescribed to her. Mixed with alcohol the risk of severe sedation increases and could even be fatal.” She told the jury that between October 2014 and October 2025, the husband’s “internet browsing history reveals extensive searches for medication / drugs (prescription or otherwise, and various illicit substances), including their effects, dosage, purchasing, the dangers of mixing with alcohol”. The jury was told he also undertook web searches for erectile dysfunction, pipettes, eye checks, lowering inhibitions, STIs and STI tests. Ms Oakley said: “He may have also sourced and purchased other ‘sleeping serums’ where the chemical composition is unknown” The court heard the results of the test were likely to be an “underestimate” because the woman had her hair dyed every five weeks, which can “remove evidence”. The jury has been told the husband discussed sourcing and administering drugs with some of the men he had met online. He gave one of the defendants David Graves, 60, the address of a late relative for him to send drugs to as the property was empty. He is also said to have discussed drugs with another of the defendants, Robert Stewart, 70, who allegedly raped the unconscious wife on September 21 last year — a month before the husband’s arrest. The court heard the morning after the wife messaged a friend saying “she felt wobbly , woozy, and a bit weird” asking how much she’d had to drink. Her husband was messaging another contact saying he had used his wife “like a sex doll”. After that visit, jurors heard Stewart sent the husband a message urging him to “delete all messages” and saying “remember what happened to the guy in France?”, a reference to Gisèle Pelicot, who was raped by her husband in France. Ms Oakley said: “His comparison of what happened to her and his conduct perhaps sums up this entire case from start to finish. It appears clear that the offending was in fact to continue, and would have done so” had it not been for the husband’s arrest. The court heard on October 25, 2025, after the husband had been arrested, he continued to receive messages. While he was in custody the defendant Daniel Rayner asked on Telegram “any plans to abuse her this weekend mate”. Finishing her opening statement Ms Oakley told the jury: “The prosecution say they have been caught, and you will forgive my expression, with their trousers down, quite literally. That anything they said or did was fantasy or role playing is their last-ditch attempt to try and get away with what they were doing. “It wasn’t a game, it wasn’t fantasy role play, it wasn’t unconventional consensual sexual practises; it was, as I said at the beginning, men practising their barbaric fantasies on a completely unaware victim.” The nine men on trial, who all deny a range of sexual offences, are David Graves, 60, a sales rep; Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic; Robert Stewart, 70, a retired DJ; Mohammed Sabir, 29, a recruitment consultant; youth football coach Alan Keelan, 42; building company worker and dog walker Jordan Wallace, 31; taxi driver Philip Wild, 58; metal worker Richard Townsend, 38; and Daniel Rayner, 42, a self-employed mechanic. 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. 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, Keelan, 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 pleaded guilty to various sexual offences at earlier hearings. The case continues.