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Four UK men on trial accused of raping or assaulting drugged woman

27 October 2026 at 15:12

Four British men went on trial on Tuesday for raping or sexually abusing a woman who had been advertised online, drugged and filmed by her then-husband, with prosecutors warning the jury that they would “see videos of things you cannot then unsee”.

Philip Young, 50, earlier this year pleaded guilty to several offences committed over more than a decade against his ex-wife Joanne Young, who has waived her legal right to anonymity.

Four other men who prosecutors say raped or sexually assaulted her between 2016 and 2023 are now standing trial at Winchester Crown Court for offences they allegedly committed with Philip Young.

Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, denies one count of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration; Richard Wilkins, 62, denies one count of rape and one count of assault by penetration; Norman Macksoni, 48, denies one count of rape; and Mohammed Hassan, 38, denies one count of sexual assault.

“This case is, in effect, about whether it is ever reasonable to have sex or to begin to have sexual contact with an unknown woman without checking with her first,” prosecutor Sarah Jones said.

She said Philip Young posted images online of Joanne Young, tied to her bed and blindfolded, as he “sought strangers to come and sleep with his wife – any age, any race”.

“He presented it as a kink for both of them but there was no information from Joanne herself to support that,” Jones added.

Without Joanne Young’s knowledge or consent, Jones said, Philip Young had regularly drugged her and invited strangers who responded to online posts to have sex with her, watching and filming while it happened.

Police found those videos after an account linked to Philip Young posted bestiality images online in 2023 and his devices were seized.

Jones said that Joanne Young had consented to Philip Young’s preference for her to be blindfolded and restrained during sex, but one evening around 2023 woke up to discover a stranger was in the room.

Philip Young said on that occasion he had invited someone to watch the couple having sex, but after his arrest police found videos of strangers sexually assaulting or raping Joanne Young, the prosecutor said.

“You are going to see videos of things you cannot then unsee and may find you can’t forget,” Jones told the jury.

The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.

France, Britain stage first joint nuclear air strike simulation

23 October 2026 at 17:07
French Rafales carry out mock strike 'Rummy' escorted by British RAF Typhoons, as Paris and London deepen nuclear coordination amid rising tensions with Russia

PHP Security Flaw Sets Off Global Rush to Patch, Leaving Websites Offline

Governments and businesses around the world scrambled to prevent hackers from exploiting a vulnerability in PHP, a popular programming language.

© Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press

Prime Minister Rob Jetten of the Netherlands in Brussels last week. He said that his cabinet was closely monitoring the online vulnerability caused by a security flaw in PHP.

Betting Against Burnham

5 October 2026 at 15:43

Labour may be enjoying a Burnham bounce, but Mark Littlewood still thinks the smart option is to bet against the Prime Minister winning the next General Election. He explains why in the Daily Sceptic.

The post Betting Against Burnham appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Colonialism Did Not Die — It Changed Its Suit for New Clothes

How Europe and the U.S. cynically turned Africa into a “cage without bars.” In 1960, remembered in history as the Year of Africa, 17 countries on the continent gained long-awaited political independence. It seemed that the nearly 500-year era of Western European empires had sunk into oblivion. But if you look closely at socioeconomic indicators, […]

Danny Tommo Denied Bail

29 September 2026 at 13:44

Danny Tommo, the anti-migrant activist, has been denied bail after appearing in court for allegedly slashing a migrant boat in the Channel – despite the five suspects in the RAF Fairford terror plot all being bailed.

The post Danny Tommo Denied Bail appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

A Graveyard Shift with Britain’s Gen Z Undertakers

28 September 2026 at 14:00

In this story for Dispatch, Lotte Brundle reports on a surprising trend: young women in the UK are pursuing careers in the death care industry. In a time of high unemployment, funeral home apprenticeships offer an alternative to university, where students accumulate significant debt. While the pay is low and the industry needs to do a better job building awareness that the trajectory exists, the young women who speak to Brundle find the work meaningful and rewarding.

Her inspiration to become an undertaker arrived, as many teenage epiphanies now do, via TikTok. Emily was 15 and had been considering becoming a teacher or journalist when she came across an American woman documenting life inside her own funeral home. “I’d never considered it as a career,” she says. “I didn’t know anyone who was an undertaker, but I just thought how interesting it was.”

Two hours later, she was still scrolling through the woman’s profile, engrossed. Running her own funeral home became Emily’s dream.

Argentina Again States Its Claims to the Malvinas Islands

25 September 2026 at 09:30
On September 3, 2026, Argentine President Javier Milei addressed the nation on the issue of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands. This programmatic speech is noteworthy be-cause Milei had previously taken a more cautious position on the islands and advocated resolving the long-standing territorial dispute with the United Kingdom through diplomatic means. However, in this address, the […]

X-Rays Found Egyptian Glass Hidden in a 2,000-Year-Old British Harness Ring Made Long Before Rome Invaded

23 September 2026 at 11:21
In late 2025, conservators from Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum brought an unassuming object to the Diamond Light Source synchrotron in Oxfordshire: a terret, a small bronze loop that Iron Age chariots used to keep a horse’s reins from tangling. It looked modest. It was nearly 2,000 years old. And under X-ray analysis, it turned out to […]

Changing the Rules of the Game: Britain and Israel at a Crossroads

21 September 2026 at 09:40
Britain’s relationship with Israel is entering a new phase as the E1 settlement dispute collides with wider struggles over the Red Sea, Gaza’s energy resources, IMEC, intelligence technology and post-Brexit influence. As London pressures Israel while maintaining strategic cooperation, the question is whether Britain is changing the rules of the relationship-or preparing for a deeper […]

Bronze Age Sardinians Were Trading Metal with Scotland and Sweden— 500 Years Before the Phoenicians

20 September 2026 at 07:52
A copper ingot cast somewhere in inland Sardinia during the Bronze Age might, centuries later, turn up in a Scottish tomb or a village in southern Sweden. That is the striking picture drawn by Serena Sabatini, an archaeologist at the University of Gothenburg, in a new paper that pulls together decades of isotopic analyses to […]

Operation Interflex: Britain Is Bankrolling a War Europe Cannot Pay For

12 September 2026 at 05:59
While posing as a defender of European security, Britain is in fact fuelling the fire: its military programmes and century-long partnership with Kyiv make peace with Moscow ever less attainable and militarise the continent for decades to come. While Britain tries to pose as a major protector of the European security, its military actions are […]
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