london
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A British man and five others have been charged with committing 56 sex crimes against his now ex-wife over a 13-year period.
Wiltshire Police said Philip Young was being held in connection with a number of charges, including multiple counts of rape and administering a drug with intent to subdue to permit sexual activity.
Young, 49, is also charged with voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children and possession of graphic images.
Five other people who are currently out on bail are also facing charges against 48-year-old Joanne Young, who waived her legal right to anonymity.
The alleged crimes took place between 2010 and 2023.
Police named the men as Norman McThone, 47, who was charged with rape and possession of explicit images. Dean Hamilton, also 47, is charged with one count of rape and sexual assault and two counts of sexual contact. Connor Sanderson Doyle, 31, was charged with sexual assault by sexual penetration and sexual contact. Richard Wilkins, 61, was charged with rape and sexual contact, and Mohamed Hassan, 37, was charged with sexual contact.
All six are due to appear at Swindon Magistrates’ Court in south-west England on Tuesday.
Wiltshire Police’s Detective Chief Superintendent Geoff Smith said the charges were a “significant update” in a “complex and wide-ranging investigation”.
He added that Joanne Young was being supported by specially trained police officers and had taken the decision to automatically waive her legal right to anonymity “after multiple consultations with police officers and support services”.
James Foster, a specialist prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, added that the CPS had approved the charges against the six people “following a police investigation into serious sexual offense allegations against Joanne Young over a 13-year period”.
“The prosecutor’s office has sought to demonstrate that there is sufficient evidence to file charges and that it is in the public interest to proceed with criminal proceedings,” he said in a statement.
“We have been working closely with Wiltshire Police on the investigation.”
