Former Taunton Town football chief admits role in sending sedatives to a husband who drugged and raped his wife

Karl Lindsay, 56, a married father of five who climbed the ranks at Taunton Town from kit manager to chief executive, entered guilty pleas at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday to three serious sexual offences. The charges relate to a decade-long campaign of abuse a woman suffered at the hands of her husband. The victim was present in the public gallery as Lindsay entered his pleas before being remanded in custody.

Her husband, who cannot be named, has previously admitted 62 offences against her, including multiple counts of rape spanning more than 20 years.

Three other men — Graham Brougham, 74, Keith Fotheringham, 59, and Sean Peers, 38 — have also pleaded guilty to sexual offences against the same victim.

Nine further defendants, among them an ambulance paramedic who was once photographed with Prince Harry, are due to stand trial from Monday at the same court.