The identities of 13 men charged alongside a man accused of drugging and raping his wife can be revealed after reporting restrictions were lifted.
The main defendant in the case is due to go on trial in September. He stands accused of drugging and sexually assaulting his wife over a period of 20 years and conspiring with other men to engage in abuse.
The identity of the man, who is in his 60s and from the Stockport area of Greater Manchester, cannot be revealed in order to protect his wife’s anonymity.
He has pleaded guilty to 15 charges – five rapes, three sexual assaults, six assaults by penetration and one count of sharing intimate images without consent – and denies 33 other charges.
His co-defendants, who range in age from 28 to 73, face charges including conspiracy to rape and conspiracy to assault by penetration.
During a series of preliminary hearings at Manchester’s Minshull Street crown court, some of the men, who include a paramedic, a football coach and a taxi driver, have been dressed smartly in shirts and ties while others have arrived at court wearing tracksuits and slouched in the dock.
Some of the men are alleged to have directly participated in the abuse of the woman, while others are alleged to have encouraged the commission of sexual offences online.
At a previous hearing, Keith Fortheringham, 59, from Dundee, a technician at the city’s university, pleaded guilty to assault by penetration, conspiracy to assault by penetration, conspiracy to rape and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent. He was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic from Stockport, once met Prince Harry when the royal visited emergency services workers in Manchester in 2013 in the wake of rioting in the city. Kirk told the prince: “We were facing the rioters but we could not move back,” the Manchester Evening News reported at the time. Kirk has denied one charge of conspiracy to rape, one charge of conspiracy to assault by penetration, and one charge of rape.
Philip Wild, 58, a taxi driver from Stockport, has denied five charges – conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration, sexual assault, attempted rape, and assault by penetration.
Sean Peers, 37, from Stockport, has denied one charge of assault by penetration and one of conspiracy to assault by penetration.
Jordan Wallace, 31, a dog walker from Manchester, has denied one charge of rape, one of attempted rape and one of conspiracy to rape.
Alan Keelan, 42, who coached at a junior football club in Manchester until his arrest, has denied one charge of conspiracy to rape and two counts of rape.
Robert Stewart, 70, a DJ from Stockport, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of conspiracy to rape and two counts of rape.
Mohammed Sabir, 28, a recruiter, has denied a charge of conspiracy to rape, one of conspiracy to assault by penetration and three counts of rape.
Graham Brougham, 73, from Cheshire, who played in a 1970s tribute band and is a member of a walking football team, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to rape, one of conspiracy to assault by penetration and one charge of rape.
Richard Townsend, 37, a metal worker from Heywood in Greater Manchester, has pleaded not guilty to one count of assault by penetration and one of conspiracy to assault by penetration.
Karl Lindsay, 55, from Taunton, has denied a charge of conspiracy to assault by penetration, one of conspiracy to rape, and one of conspiracy to administer a substance with intent. He was the CEO of Taunton Town FC but resigned after his arrest.
David Graves, 59, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, has pleaded not guilty to the same three charges – conspiracy to assault by penetration, conspiracy to rape, and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.
Daniel Rayner, 42, from Whitstable in Kent, has denied three charges – conspiracy to assault by penetration, conspiracy to rape and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.
Five of the defendants are on bail and the remainder are in custody. All of the men bar Fotheringham are due to stand trial in September at the same court.
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