Former Tory councillor’s ex-wife was advertised online for sexual assaults while drugged, court hears as trial of four men begins
Four men have gone on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of sexually assaulting Joanne Young after her then-husband, former Conservative councillor Philip Young, allegedly drugged her and advertised her online on Craigslist, Grindr and swinging websites.
Philip Young, 50, formerly of Swindon but now of Enfield, has pleaded guilty to all 56 charges against him relating to a 13-year campaign of abuse against his ex-wife (who has waived her right to anonymity). These include multiple counts of rape, administering a substance with intent to stupefy or overpower her, sexual assault, assault by penetration, extensive voyeurism, and publishing more than 500 non-consensual intimate images and videos of her. He also later admitted charges relating to indecent images of children and extreme pornography. Young served as a Conservative councillor for Covingham and Nythe on Swindon Borough Council between 2007 and 2010.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Sarah Jones KC told the jury that Young had sought strangers “any age, any race” as close to Swindon as possible so they could be “seized upon immediately”. He presented the activity as a mutual “kink”, but the court heard there was no evidence Joanne Young consented. Photos he posted showed her “inanimate and tied to the bed blindfolded”. Prosecutors said he used a “nightcap” to plunge her into a state where she would be unaware or unable to remember what was done to her. Mrs Young has described herself as “emphatically monogamous” with traditional views of marriage; she told the court she had only a “nightmare” sense of another person being present and that learning the full extent of the abuse left her world “tilted on its axis”.
The four men charged jointly with Young, who deny the allegations, are:
Norman Macksoni, 48, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire (denies one count of rape)
Richard Wilkins, 62, of Toothill, Swindon (denies one count of rape and one of assault by penetration)
Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, of Swindon (denies sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching)
Mohammed Hassan, 38, of Swindon (denies one count of sexual touching)
Philip Young, 50, a former Conservative councillor, who has admitted to drugging and raping her over 13 years.
A fifth man, Dean Hamilton, 47, of Street, Somerset, has already pleaded guilty to rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault. The alleged offences involving the men on trial took place between 2016 and 2023 at the couple’s Swindon home. Mr Justice Saini warned jurors they would see graphic and upsetting video evidence. Young’s guilty pleas are evidence of his own guilt but not of the other defendants’. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks; Young and Hamilton will be sentenced afterwards.
