A 60-year-old man stands in the dock of a Manchester courtroom, dabbing his face with a tissue as he admits to sexually assaulting his wife over the course of three years. He pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, six counts of assault by penetration, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of sharing intimate images without consent. The offences span from March 2022 to October 2025 and include one incident in October 2024 where he sexually assaulted his wife alongside another man. The case has reignited public discussion about sexual consent within marriage and how the law treats such crimes.
The man, who cannot be named due to legal restrictions, had originally denied 48 charges covering a 21-year period, including conspiring with others to drug his wife and rape her while she was unconscious. But on 22 June 2026, at Minshul Street Crown Court, he changed his pleas. He is due to stand trial in September alongside 12 other men, aged 28 to 73, who face allegations including conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration, rape and sexual assault spanning from November 2004 to November 2025. The co-accused come from Stockport, elsewhere in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and other parts of the UK.
“Explaining the law on marital rape and sexual consent in marriage, illustrated by a recent UK case.”
Under UK law, a husband can be charged with raping his wife. Marital rape was criminalised in England and Wales in 1991, when the House of Lords abolished the centuries-old common law exemption that had allowed a husband to have sexual intercourse with his wife without her consent. Similar laws were enacted in Scotland in 1989 and in Northern Ireland in 2010. The key principle is that no person, regardless of their relationship to the victim, has the right to engage in sexual activity without explicit, ongoing consent. The fact that the victim is in a marriage or long-term partnership does not change this.
For UK readers, this case serves as a stark reminder that sexual offences within marriage are taken seriously by the criminal justice system. It highlights that consent cannot be presumed even in long-established relationships. The involvement of multiple co-defendants also raises questions about the use of drugs to facilitate sexual assault—a tactic known as drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA). The man's initial denial of 48 charges over 21 years suggests that such abuse may go unreported for decades, and the guilty pleas cover only a three-year window. The victim's experience may encourage others in similar situations to come forward, knowing that the law is on their side.
Q: What is marital rape? Marital rape is when a person has sexual intercourse with their spouse without that spouse's consent. In the UK, it is a criminal offence, treated the same as rape by a stranger. Consent must be given freely and can be withdrawn at any time.
Q: Is it a crime for a husband to drug his wife and have sex with her? Yes. Drugging someone to make them unconscious or unable to consent is a serious offence. In this case, the man was accused of conspiring to drug his wife and rape her while she was unconscious—a charge he denied but admitted to related sexual offences over a three-year period.
Q: What are the penalties for marital rape? Rape carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in England and Wales. Other sexual offences such as assault by penetration carry up to life, while sexual assault carries up to 10 years. Sentencing depends on the specific facts of the case, including the level of harm and the relationship between the offender and victim.
What happens next remains uncertain. The husband will be sentenced at a later date, likely after the trial of the 12 other men scheduled for September 2026. Further details may emerge about the extent of the alleged conspiracy and the victim's suffering. The case also comes amid other high-profile sexual offence convictions, such as that of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who was found guilty of 18 historical sexual offences against two women when they were children. As the legal system continues to prosecute these cases, the message is clear: consent is mandatory, no matter the relationship.