Man accused of sexually assaulting wife of Tory councillor told police he 'did not know' she'd been drugged by husband, court hears

A man accused of sexually assaulting a mother with her ex-Tory councillor husband told police he ‘did not know’ the woman had been drugged, a court has heard.Philip Young, 50, ‘advertised’ his wife Joanne Young,49, on Craigslists looking for strangers to sexually abuse her while she was blindfolded and bound in a drugged stupor.The jury was told his offer, which was presented as a ‘kink’ for the couple’, was answered by Connor Sanderson-Doyle who was filmed assaulting the woman during the encounter in 2016.A video of the disturbing incident was shown the court which showed the then 21-year-old wearing a mask as he performed a sex act on the blindfolded mother-of-three.‘I could tell she felt uncomfortable which made me feel uncomfortable so I stopped,’ Sanderson-Doyle told the police when he was arrested in 2025.‘I kinda of looked at him (Young) and he said something like ‘she’s not feeling it tonight’ so I left.’He said he thought it was ‘all above board’ and ‘legit’ adding that he thought he was helping a married couple fulfil ‘a kink’.‘I didn’t know some guy was drugging his wife and getting men around to rape her, that’s f*cking gross,’ he said. Philip Young (pictured) has admitted nearly 50 sex offences which he carried out against his wife Joanne Young over a 13-year period (Left to right) Norman Macksoni, Connor Sanderson-Doyle, Richard Wilkins and Mohammed Hassan are accused of sexual offences against Joanne Young Mr Young is not on trial and will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trial which is expected to last four weeks‘I was so shocked when you told me about it this morning,’ he said in the transcript.‘It’s not an excuse, what has happened to this woman was horrible. It’s upsetting this guy has done this and involved me in it,’ he told the investigating officers.He described Young as an ‘odd looking, chubby guy’ who was trying to film the assault on a ‘proper big camera’.Young, a business consultant, pleaded guilty to multiple sex offences against his wife of 20 years earlier this year.Now four men who he invited into their Swindon home are on trial at Winchester Crown Court for charges ranging from rape to sexual touching between 2016 and 2023.Sanderson-Doyle, 32, Richard Wilkins, 62, Norman Macksoni, 48 and Mohammed Hassan, 38, all deny the allegations.Prosecutor Saraj Jones KC said it was not the Crown’s case that the defendants had administered the substances to Ms Young, but that the ‘effects’ on her ‘were apparent’ to them.Young’s offending came to light when officers attended his address while investigating the download of extreme pornographic images.Ms Jones told the jury that officers went to talk to Young on July 4 2023.She said when he gave access to his phone to check, they found a number of other ‘intimate’ images of his wife. She said: ‘In short, that led to identification of images that show intimate images of Joanne Young had been shared from the device, taken on the device and shared.‘The investigation was much wider and all Mr Young’s devices were seized and the investigation begun.’The jury, made up of eight men and four women, were shown the disturbing videos of the alleged sexual abuse by three of the four defendants Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, from Swindon, is charged with sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching Mohammed Hassan, 38, of Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual touching Norman Macksoni, of Bedfordshire, denies raping Ms Young in her home with the help of her husband Richard Wilkins, 62, from Swindon, has denied one count of rape and one of sexual assault Ms Jones told the jury the men were expected to claim they believed Ms Young consented to the sexual activity.But said that this was a ‘last desperate throw of the dice to convince you and perhaps even themselves that they are not rapists or sexual offenders’.Macksoni, of Bedfordshire, denies rape, while Wilkins, of Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault.Sanderson-Doyle, of Swindon, denies sexual assault and sexual touching, while Hassan, also of Swindon, has pleaded not guilty to sexual touching.The trial continues.ENDS