A British man admitted in a Manchester court on Monday to drugging and raping his wife for more than two decades, a case in which twelve other men are accused of assaulting his wife while she was unconscious.
This man in his sixties, whose identity cannot be revealed in order to preserve the anonymity of his wife, pleaded guilty to 60 offenses of a sexual nature, including rape and the administration of substances to sedate his wife, between 2004 and 2025.
Earlier this year, this Briton had already pleaded guilty to several rapes and sexual assaults against his wife.
He was due to stand trial at Minshull Street Court in Manchester alongside 12 other men, who deny committing serious sexual offenses against the same woman between 2018 and 2025.
These defendants aged 28 to 73, including a paramedic and a former football coach, are due to appear in the coming weeks before a court in this town in the north-west of England. No date has yet been announced.
A thirteenth man has already pleaded guilty to several offenses, including sexual assault with penetration. All these men, including the victim’s husband, must be given their sentence at the end of the trial.
This case is reminiscent of that of Dominique Pelicot, convicted in France during a trial which had a worldwide impact in 2024. His ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, became a figure in the fight against sexual violence after choosing to publicly testify to the rapes committed by dozens of men recruited by her ex-husband.
Several trials of sexual violence facilitated by chemical submission have recently taken place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. This consists of administering to a person, without their knowledge or under duress, a psychoactive substance for tort or criminal purposes.
