Former Tory councillor admits drugging and raping wife over 14-year period

A former Conservative councillor has admitted nearly 50 offences of drugging, raping and sexually assaulting his former wife over a period of 14 years.Philip Young, 49, pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to 11 counts of rape and 11 counts of administering a substance with intent to stupefy his former spouse Joanne Young, 48, who can be named as she has waived her right to anonymityPhilip Young, who lives in Enfield, also admitted 14 counts of voyeurism, including a single count that covered at least 200 acts of voyeurism; seven counts of assault by penetration; four counts of sexual assault and one count of publishing obscene articles on at least 500 occasions.Joanne Young, who sat facing her ex-husband in court room 2, was the complainant on all counts.Philip Young, wearing a prison-issue grey sweater, pleaded not guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, one count of possession of prohibited images and four counts of possessing extreme pornographic images.The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2010 and 2024.Five other men appeared in court alongside Young on Friday in connection with alleged offences against Joanne Young.Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 31, of Swindon, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and assault by penetration; Norman Macksoni, 47, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, pleaded not guilty to rape and possessing an extreme pornographic image; Richard Wilkins, 61, of Toothill, Swindon, pleaded not guilty to assault by penetration and rape; and Mohammed Hassan, 37, of Swindon, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.Dean Hamilton, 47, of Compton Dundon in Somerset, is charged with assault by penetration, two counts of sexual assault and rape. He is yet to enter pleas.Philip Young, born in Enfield in June 1976, graduated from the University of Westminster in 1998. He was a Conservative councillor on Swindon borough council from 2007 to 2010.He resigned as the cabinet member for culture, regeneration and economic development on 6 May 2010 to devote more time to his family and run his own business, according to the Swindon Advertiser. “Trying to juggle all of that, family and work, I don’t think it is fair on my family to put them bottom of that priority list,” he told the newspaper at the time.He had also featured in the publication in September 2009 after delivering his son when his wife went into labour at the family home.Since 2010, Young has been the director of several companies. He was most recently the chief operating officer at Pracedo, a consultancy firm.