A husband who admitted drugging and raping his wife was invited to share images of her via online 'channel' with 4,000 viewers, court hears

A husband who has admitted drugging and raping his wife was invited to share images and footage of her through an online ‘channel’ with 4,000 viewers, a court heard today.

The content would be shared via encrypted messaging app Telegram, jurors were told.

Separately, two contacts who messaged the husband about having sex with the wife said they would only do so with her consent as they did not want to be accused of rape, it is claimed.

Nine men are on trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court accused of a variety of sexual offences against the wife, whose husband has admitted 62 charges.

The husband, of Stockport in Greater Manchester, cannot be named to protect his wife’s identity.

He drugged an raped his wife for 20 years and was offered instruction videos on how to administer the substances, the trial heard yesterday.

Jurors were today given details of contact between the husband and other men he met on the Telegram group.

Prosecutor Louise Oakley KC said he was invited to join the group in March 2022 by an unnamed man, known as Contact Y.

Robert Stewart, 70, a divorced father of two and grandfather who used to be a DJ, was sent a picture of the wife on New Year's Eve in 2021, it is alleged

Philip Wild, 59, was the first to visit the husband and wife's home in 2023, the court was told

Dog walker and delivery driver Jordan Wallace, 31, from Stockport, is accused of rape

Mohammed Sabir, 29, is the youngest defendant in the case and denies four charges

As a condition of entry into the group, the husband sent Contact Y four videos of his unconscious wife, it is claimed.

Contact Y then gave him instructions on how to put his wife ‘in a more sexy position’ and added: ‘I will share it on the channel... we have around 4,000 viewers.’

One unnamed man, known as Contact X, asked the husband for videos – in exchange for footage of him drugging his wife by administering a substance with a child’s medicine syringe.

He told the husband: ‘I could send vids on me drugging my wife; if you could send me vids of your wife, it would be much appreciated.’

The husband discussed members of the group having sex with his wife – but some were reluctant without her consent.

In May 2022, Contact Z told the husband: ‘If I’m going to have sex with her, I need her consent. I need to hear it, otherwise it’s rape.’

Married father-of-two Alan Keelan, 42, pictured at a football club awards presentation

Jonathan Kirk, accused of two rapes, is among nine men charged with abuse of the wife

David Graves, 60, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, denies three charges 

Richard Townsend, 38, denies a sexual offence against the same woman as the other men

The husband replied: ‘Yeah, I get it, understand.’

In September 2022, another man, Contact Q, was having a discussion with the husband about the use of drugs and told him: ‘Work on the drugs first, a couple of trial runs. I’m not prepared to be accused of rape.’

The jury heard yesterday that the husband had earlier sent a message to Robert Stewart, 70, on New Year’s Eve in 2021 followed by a picture of his wife lying on a bed with her breasts and private parts exposed.

The court was told that the first alleged contact offender – the men who physically abused the wife – to visit the family home was Philip Wild, 59, a taxi driver.

The jury were shown three still images and one video taken by the husband of Wild, also from the Stockport area, standing beside the wife’s bed and sexually assaulting her.

The images were taken in the early hours of Sunday, August 20, 2023.

Jonathan Kirk pictured outside Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court

Jordan Wallace pictured outside the court in Manchester where he is one of nine men on trial

Alan Keelan pictured outside court wearing hood and scarf across his face

The husband later shared the images and told Contact Q on Telegram: ‘The taxi driver got a feel last night.’

He told another man, known as Contact AS: ‘Had a guy feeling her a bit last night but she wasn’t totally out of it.’

The court was also told that the husband had discussed the sexual abuse of his wife with men in Norway and Canada, as well as Texas.

On trial are David Graves, 60, a sales rep; Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic; Robert Stewart, 70, a retired DJ; Mohammed Sabir, 29, a recruitment consultant; youth football coach Alan Keelan, 42; building company worker and dog walker Jordan Wallace, 31; taxi driver Philip Wild, 59; metal worker Richard Townsend, 38; and Daniel Rayner, 42, a self-employed mechanic.

One of the men involved in the case, Keith Fotheringham, 59, previously admitted his role in the abuse and pleaded guilty to four offences between 2023 and 2025

Sean Peers, 38, has pleaded guilty to offences against the woman at an earlier hearing

Graham Brougham, 74, is the oldest of 14 defendants charged over the attacks 

Former Taunton Town Football Club CEO Karl Lindsay, 56, has admitted charges

All deny a variety of sexual offences.

Stewart, Wild, Sabir and Kirk, all of Stockport, Greater Manchester, Graves, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and Rayner, of Whitstable, Kent, deny conspiracy to rape between 2015 and 2025. 

Graves and Rayner also deny conspiracy to assault by penetration between 2018 and 2025, while Stewart, Graves and Rayner deny conspiracy to administer a substance 'with the intention of stupefying or overpowering' the wife between 2015 and 2025.

Wild is also charged with sexual assault in August 2023, plus attempted rape and assault by penetration in February 2025. Sabir denies three rapes, in February 2025 and twice in September 2025.

Wallace, of Stockport, denies rape and attempted rape in May 2025, Keelan, from Manchester, denies two attempted rapes and an assault by penetration, all in June 2025.

Townsend, of Heywood, Greater Manchester, denies assault by penetration in July 2025, while Kirk denies two rapes in August 2025. Stewart denies two rapes in September 2025.

Four other men – Karl Lindsay, 56, of Taunton, Somerset, Graham Brougham, 74, of Northwich, Cheshire, Keith Fotheringham, 59, of Dundee, and Sean Peers, 38, of Stockport – have also pleaded guilty to various sexual offences at earlier hearings.

The trial, which is expected to take at least two months, continues.