Source : Perth Now news
Four men have faced court charged with sexually assaulting a UK woman who was allegedly drugged and offered up in advertisements online by her former husband, who was a local government official at the time.
The quartet – Norman Macksoni, 48, Richard Wilkins, 62, Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, and Mohammed Hassan, 38 – all pleaded not guilty to sexual offences against the alleged victim Joanne Young, the BBC reports.
Her former husband Philip Young, who has pleaded guilty to 56 offences committed over a 13-year period in which he drugged and raped his wife, is jointly charged with the four men.
The jury was told Young used images taken without his then-wife’s knowledge in ads on swinging sites, Grindr and Craigslist.
Prosecutor Sarah Jones told the court how the former Conservative councillor became obsessed and “set about finding a way to realise his fantasy without her knowing”.
It was a severe contrast to the testimony from 49-year-old Ms Young who told jurors of her “vanilla” sexual tastes and how she was “always monogamous … physically and emotionally” and adhered to “a traditional sense of marriage”.
Ms Young, who waived her right to anonymity in the case, had told law enforcement that she had always believed she had an “always monogamous” sex life with her then-husband – despite the fact he was spiking her drinks, according to Metro.
However, she recounted how in 2023 she awoke blindfolded and shackled in restraints with her husband “stage managing another unknown” man as the latter carried out a sexual act on her.
Prosecutor Jones said Ms Young had been advertised online by her then-husband.
“He presented it as a kink for both of them, but there was no information from Joanne herself to support this and the photos he posted of her to advertise his offer showed her inanimate and tied to the bed blindfolded,” Ms Jones told the court, according to the BBC.
“The nightcap they shared, it appeared, would be used to plunge her into a state where anything could be done to her by whoever answered and she would be unaware or unable to remember.”
The Accused
Sanderson-Doyle denies sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching.
His alleged incident came after he responded to an ad on Craigslist in 2016 with the prosecutor telling the court footage revealed a balaclava clad Sanderson-Doyle touching Ms Young as she was tied to a bed.
The jury heard he continued to touch Ms Young after she protested, only relenting when she openly told him “No, let go”.
The Swindon accused believed the 49-year-old woman had consented to the act and that the Youngs were “trying to live out whatever their kink” was, Jones told the court.
Macksoni, who has denied a count of rape, also told police he believed that a blindfolded and shackled Ms Young was consenting when he was filmed having sex with her in 2017, according to the BBC.
That was despite Jones telling the court footage showed Ms Young clearly exhibiting “slurred and confused” speech and her then-husband trying to reassure her that she was not being recorded.
Video also allegedly showed Wilkins, who pleaded not guilty to rape and assault by penetration, appearing to have sex with a similarly blindfolded and restrained Ms Young despite the fact she can be heard snoring in the footage.
Wilkins apparently consulted with Ms Young’s then-husband about her state before carrying out his sex act, the court was told.
“The notion of checking with the woman who is so out of it she is snoring never seems to enter the minds of either,” Jones told the jury, adding: “They have no interest in her consent.”
The fourth accused, Mohammed Hassan, is the only one not to have been caught on video, according to the prosecutor.
He pleaded not guilty to a sexual touching incident in 2023 which the court heard was traced back through Grindr messages in which Mr Young appeared to invite him to his home with the promise that his wife would be bound and “falling asleep”.
The court heard that the thread of messages included a subsequent apology from Mr Young the following day regarding his wife’s behaviour on the night of the alleged incident.
Young, who has admitted to 14 counts of voyeurism, 11 of rape, 11 of administering a substance with intent, seven of assault by penetration, four of sexual assault and one of publishing an obscene article, will be sentenced at the end of the trial of the four men along with a second man, Dean Hamilton, 47, who has also previously pleaded guilty to sexual offences against Ms Young.
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National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
