Thursday, October 29, 2026 - A woman’s world was "tilted on its axis" when she discovered that for years her former husband had been drugging her and inviting men into their family home to sexually assault her while she was restrained and blindfolded, a Winchester crown court jury has been told.
Philip Young, 50, advertised his then wife, Joanne Young, on
dating and swinging websites, presenting the arrangement as a shared
"kink." In reality, prosecutors stated, he had been sedating her,
plunging her into an inanimate state where strangers could assault her.
The businessman has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of
abuse against his former wife, who has waived her right to anonymity.
The jury of eight men and four women is hearing the trial of
four men jointly charged with sexually assaulting Joanne Young, 49.
Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, of Swindon, Wiltshire, denies
sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching in June 2016.
Richard Wilkins, 62, of Toothill, Swindon, has pleaded not
guilty to one count of rape and one of assault by penetration in July 2016.
Norman Macksoni, 48, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, denies one count of rape in
February 2017.
Mohammed Hassan, 38, of Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to
one count of sexual touching in February 2023. Philip Young is named in each
count as having committed the alleged offenses alongside the co-defendants.
Prosecuting counsel Sarah Jones KC told the jury that Joanne
Young had no idea what had been happening to her until police intervened at the
family home in Swindon, Wiltshire
“The world she thought she knew had entirely tilted on its axis. The relationship she thought she had appears now to be wholly unreal—she does not even know what she doesn’t know.”
Jones warned jurors that the trial would involve distressing evidence, including video footage showing Joanne Young as the victim of her husband's scheme to watch her being approached by men sourced from the internet.
The barrister emphasized that the core legal question
centers on whether it is ever reasonable to engage in s3xual activity with an
unknown person without checking for explicit consent, or assuming consent can
be given on another's behalf.
The couple married in 2004 and raised three children. To
outsiders, they appeared to have a normal family life, and Joanne Young
characterized her marriage as traditional and monogamous. While her husband had
preferences for blindfolds and restraints during intimacy, which she did not
object to, she was otherwise averse to losing control and disliked taking
sleeping aids.
Suspicions and investigations began building after customs
intercepted a sedative package mailed from India to Philip Young in 2015.
Police inquiries later revealed evidence that Young had actively searched for
substances capable of inducing deep disorientation and memory loss.
The full scale of the abuse came to light in 2023 following
a night out, when Joanne Young felt an unfamiliar hand on her wrist during
intimacy with her husband. Discovering a stranger in the bedroom, she retreated
to the bathroom in shock.
Police subsequently launched an investigation after
receiving notifications regarding extreme pornography uploads from a social
media account linked to Philip Young. Officers raiding the address uncovered
video recordings of Joanne Young unconscious, restrained, and blindfolded while
other men engaged in sexual acts filmed by her husband.
Prosecutors noted that none of the defendants dispute that
Joanne Young was non-consenting. Instead, the defense arguments rely on claims
that the men allegedly believed she was consenting at the time, a defense the
prosecution dismissed as a desperate attempt to evade accountability without
ever verifying consent directly with the victim.
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