'Over a million' abuse images found on phone of UK man who drugged, raped wife

LONDON - A man who drugged and raped his wife over two decades and allegedly invited strangers to participate had "over a million photographs and videos" on his phone cataloguing the abuse, a UK court heard Monday.

The court in Manchester, northwest England, is hearing the trial of nine men accused of various sexual offences against a woman who was abused by her husband -- a man in his 60s who cannot be named to protect the victim's identity.

The husband filmed and shared images of the abuse on the "internet and social media applications" with "other like-minded men", prosecutor Louise Oakley told the court.

Some of the defendants allegedly "hid behind a screen" and conspired with the husband over the years to administer substances to the woman so she could be "used and abused".

And starting 2023, the prosecutor said, the husband began inviting men around to their home and filmed himself and others raping her while she was unconscious.

It is the second case involving a man accused of inviting strangers to take part in abusing his wife currently being heard in Britain. A trial in Winchester in the south involving four men opened last week.

Global awareness of the crime, known as organised drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA), has grown following the high-profile conviction in France of Dominique Pelicot, who drugged and raped his then-wife Gisele for nearly a decade alongside strangers.

Oakley told the jury in Manchester that the huband's phone, which was seized when he was arrested, was like a "confession booth" including "barbaric sexual fantasies" going back to 2004.

"There were over a million photographs and videos cataloguing not only his abuse of his wife but abuse on her committed by others, including those in the dock today," Oakley said.

"There is no doubt he lived a double life masked in respectability," the prosecutor said.

The husband pleaded guilty in September to some 60 sexual offences against his wife including administering a substance with intent to stupefy or overpower her.

He and 13 other men are accused of conspiring to abuse the woman. Four of the men have since pleaded guilty to various offences.

The remaining nine men, aged between 28 and 70, deny various charges including rape, sexual assault and conspiracy to administer a statement substance with intent.

They include a taxi driver, a recruitment agency worker, a building supplies worker and a senior medic. - AFP