WINCHESTER: A British man who drugged and raped his then-wife over 13 years had advertised on sites like Craigslist and Grindr for strangers to have sex with her without her consent, a UK court heard on Tuesday.

Philip Young earlier this year pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offences — including rape, voyeurism and administering a substance with intent to stupefy or overpower — against Joanne Young, who has waived her right to anonymity.

Four men, aged between 32 and 62, are on trial at a court in southern England, having denied sexual offences jointly committed with her husband against Joanne Young. Two of them face charges of rape and two face lesser sexual assault charges. The alleged offences occurred between 2016 and 2023.

“Mr Young had advertised her on Craigslist, Grindr and swinging websites — he sought strangers to come and sleep with his wife,” the prosecutor told the court.

Young presented the proposition as a “kink” for the couple and appeared to suggest she would be in “a state where anything could be done to her by whoever answered and she would be unaware or unable to remember”, Jones said.

The court heard that since 2015 Young had sought drugs that could put his wife “into a deep sleep where she would be disorientated, unaware of her surroundings and unlikely to be able to recall what happened”.

Police uncovered the case after Philip Young was flagged for uploading extreme images online, Jones said.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2026