Former Tory Councillor Admits to Campaign of Sexual Abuse Against Wife

A former Conservative councillor has admitted to a decade-long campaign of sexual abuse against his ex-wife, which included drugging her and advertising her online for others to assault. Philip Young, 50, pleaded guilty earlier this year to almost 50 sex offenses against Joanne Young, 49.

Philip Young had invited strangers into the couple's bed and advertised his ex-wife online, allowing multiple men to sexually assault her while she was blindfolded, bound, and drugged, a court heard. Ms. Young, who has waived her right to anonymity, told police she was left traumatized and shocked by the intrusive nature of the abuse, stating she would never accept or want such acts.

Prosecutors revealed that Young, a business consultant, began drugging his wife in 2015. Ms. Young had been married to him for 20 years and had three adult children together. She described their relationship as emphatically monogamous and her sexual preferences as "vanilla."

While Ms. Young had agreed to be blindfolded and restrained during consensual sexual activity with her husband, she would sometimes wake up with restraints on, experiencing nightmares and fear without understanding the cause.

Discovery of Abuse

The extent of the abuse became clearer in February 2023 when Ms. Young was blindfolded during sex with her husband and realized another man was present. When she attempted to remove the blindfold, a hand intervened to stop her. Her husband then told the other person to "get down," and the individual ducked at the end of the bed. The following morning, Philip Young admitted he had invited someone to watch them have sex without her permission. Prosecutors allege this man was Mohammed Hassan, who is now on trial, accused of sexual touching and traced through messages.

Ms. Young recounted waking up on another occasion years earlier wearing restraints, feeling "really, really scared" and shouting "No, no, no." At the time, she attributed the experience to a nightmare.

The prosecution stated that Young filmed three of the four men accused of assaulting his wife. In one video, Ms. Young is heard snoring and evidently asleep, while another shows her saying "no, let me go" as she is allegedly assaulted by Connor Sanderson-Doyle. A video from February 2017 reportedly shows Norman Macksoni allegedly raping Ms. Young for seven minutes in their home.

Four Men on Trial

Four other men—Richard Wilkins, 62; Norman Macksoni, 48; Mohammed Hassan, 38; and Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32—are currently standing trial at Winchester Crown Court. They are accused of sexually assaulting Ms. Young between 2016 and 2023, having been recruited by Philip Young through websites and apps like Craigslist and Grindr. The men deny charges ranging from sexual touching to rape.

Prosecutors expect the defendants to claim they believed Ms. Young consented to the sexual activity, but described this as a "last desperate throw of the dice." The court heard that Young uploaded photos of Ms. Young to "advertise his offer," showing her "inanimate and tied to the bed blindfolded."

Philip Young has admitted to nearly 50 sex offenses, including rape, drugging, and voyeurism. The trial for the four other accused men is ongoing.