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Drugged, raped, filmed: Former UK politician sexually abused ex-wife for 13 years, pleads guilty
Five other men have also been charged with various sexual offences against Joanne Young.
Former UK politician Philip Young, 49, pleaded guilty to raping his wife, drugging her, and recording her without consent between 2010 and 2013. Five other men have also been charged with various sexual offences against the survivor Joanne Young.
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Philip pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court in southeast England to 11 counts each of rape and administering a substance with intent to stupefy Joanne, 48, who was also present at the hearing as she waived her legal right to anonymity, AFP reported.
Philip is said to be a former Conservative councillor and admitted 48 of the 56 charges He denied charges of possession of indecent images of children and extreme images. The couple reportedly divorced in 2024.
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Philip served as a Conservative Swindon Borough councillor for Covingham and Nythe between 2007 and 2010, BBC reported.
Filmed ex-wife without consent
Philips also pleaded guilty to recording his ex-wife doing private acts without her consent and also admitted publishing more than 500 intimate images and videos of her as he recorded her on more than 200 occasions.
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Philip was a Conservative councillor between 2007 and 2010 and quit his job as a cabinet councillor in 2010 to focus on his family life and other business matters, The Sunday Guardian reported.
Who are the other five accused?
Five other men aged between 31 and 61 were charged with various sexual offences against Joanne.
Norman Macksoni, 47 and Richard Wilkins, 61, both pleaded not guilty to one count of rape, BBC reported.
Dean Hamilton, 47, is accused on two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration, while Connor Sanderson Doyle, 31, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching.
Mohammed Hassan, 37, pleaded not guilty to sexual touching.
The five men were all granted bail and are due to stand trial on October 5, said PA
.
What the police said
Wiltshire Police detective superintendent Geoff Smith in December said that the case stemmed from a "complex and extensive investigation".
After Friday's plea, he described the hearing a "significant landmark" and paid tribute to Joanne's "incredible bravery".
"The victim in this case, Joanne, has taken the decision to waive her automatic legal right to anonymity," he was quoted as saying.
