Former Tory councillor drugged his wife and advertised her online to strangers, court hears, as four men deny assaulting her

Philip Young, 50, a former Conservative borough councillor from Swindon, secretly spiked his wife Joanne Young's drinks with sedatives over 13 years so strangers recruited from Craigslist, Grindr and swinging websites could rape and assault her while she lay blindfolded and restrained. Young has already pleaded guilty to 56 sex offences, including filming her without consent more than 200 times. Four men — Norman Macksoni, 48, Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, Richard Wilkins, 62, and Mohammed Hassan, 38 — now face trial at Winchester Crown Court, denying the charges.

Joanne Young, 49, who has waived her anonymity, believed she had a 'vanilla', always-monogamous marriage — she had no idea of the abuse until her husband was arrested.

Prosecutor Sarah Jones KC told the jury Young's 'fantasy' was to watch strangers he had 'plucked from the internet' assault his wife while he filmed her ordeal.

'The world she thought she knew had entirely tilted on its axis,' Jones told the jury — adding that Joanne 'does not even know what she doesn't know.'