Terrified wife ‘locked herself in bathroom’ to escape stranger husband secretly sneaked into bed to sexually abuse her, court hears

Joanne Young told Winchester Crown Court that she was shocked and traumatised after learning that her former husband, ex-Conservative councillor Philip Young, had secretly brought another man into their bed. Prosecutors say the incident was part of a pattern in which he drugged and abused her over more than a decade, and arranged for other men to assault her. The case matters because four men are now on trial over alleged offences against her, while Young has admitted nearly 50 sex offences.

The court heard that Joanne Young, 49, and her husband had been together since 2002 and had three children. She said she believed their marriage was monogamous and had agreed to blindfolds and restraints during sex, but sometimes woke with restraints still on without understanding why. Prosecutors say Philip Young began drugging her in 2015 and recruited men online between 2016 and 2023; the four defendants deny charges ranging from sexual touching to rape.