A 64-year-old man broke down in tears as he pleaded guilty to 60 charges of drugging and raping his wife over a 20-year period, in a case heard at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court. The offences, which took place at the couple's family home in Stockport, Greater Manchester, included rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, attempted rape and administering a substance to stupefy or overpower his wife so she could be sexually abused, between November 2004 and his arrest in October 2025. The case forms part of a wider investigation, with thirteen other men also facing charges connected to offences against the same woman.

The husband, who has a grandchild and previously held a respectable job, had already admitted 15 charges at an earlier hearing and entered guilty pleas to the remaining 45 counts, plus a further charge of sharing intimate images, during an 18-minute hearing attended by his wife and their two sons. Of the thirteen other defendants, aged between 29 and 74, twelve have denied offences including rape, conspiracy to rape, assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent, while one has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rape. Those accused include an ambulance paramedic, a former nightclub DJ, a football club chief executive, a taxi driver and a junior football coach, among others.