News headlines from Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester: Judge Maurice Greene told jurors on Wednesday morning that the husband who admitted drugging and raping his wife for more than 20 years will no longer be a defendant in the case against 12 other men. The panel was asked to return to court on 5 October.
Greene told the nine women and three men on the jury, plus two female reserve jurors, that they had already been told 14 men had been identified and one was the husband. He said: "Of course the man who pleaded guilty was [the husband], so he will no longer be a defendant in this case."
Minshull Street Crown Court
The husband, a man from the Stockport area of Greater Manchester, admitted 60 offences against his wife. Those admissions included rape, assault by penetration, administering a substance with intent and sharing indecent images without her consent. He had already pleaded guilty to 15 offences going back to 2022, then admitted a further 45 counts on Monday.
Greene also told the jury: "Some of you may have seen or heard on the news on Monday that a man from Stockport had pleaded guilty to drugging and raping his wife, and had admitted multiple offences including rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and administering a substance with intent." He added: "Now his identity is prohibited in the public domain to protect [his wife's] identity." His wife watched from the public gallery as he answered guilty to dozens of charges.
Greater Manchester jury
The 12 other men still due to go on trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court are Graham Brougham, Alan Keelan, Sean Peers, Jonathan Kirk and Jordan Wallace, along with seven others not named in the facts provided. They are accused of serious sexual offences against the same woman, and the court heard the alleged abuse by the other defendants dates back to September 2018.
That leaves one defendant already out of the case and 12 still facing trial over the same complainant. The husband has admitted 60 offences, yet the remaining proceedings still concern allegations against the other men, so the court will now move forward with a narrowed defendant list when jurors return on 5 October.
