UK man admits 32 sexual offences against allegedly drugged or sleeping partner

A man has been told he faces a possible life sentence after pleading guilty to 32 sexual offences against his girlfriend while she was allegedly drugged or asleep, including some attacks he recorded.The defendant, aged in his 40s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday where he admitted the offences, which happened over more than a decade between January 2014 and September last year.Ten of the offences, which include rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, were committed “together with a person unknown”, the court heard.The court did not hear how many other people were involved, but recordings of some of the offences were found on the defendant’s devices.The defendant pleaded guilty to 12 counts of rape, 14 counts of assault by penetration, and six counts of sexual assault.Four of the rape counts involved “a person unknown”, as well as four of the assault by penetration counts and two of the sexual assaults.The man was visibly emotional throughout his arraignment and asked the judge part way through: “Can I just have one moment please?” before sitting with his head down in the dock in silence for a short time.The court heard that the defence disputed the prosecution’s claim the victim had been drugged during all of the offences.The prosecutor, Alexandra Felix KC, told the court: “The prosecution maintains all of these offences were committed whilst the victim had been drugged and stupefied.“That’s not accepted in its entirety.”She said the issue was whether the victim had been “asleep or had been drugged”.The defence barrister, Nathalie Carter, told the court the defendant had “made it clear to me from the beginning he didn’t want to contest any matters”.She said there would not be a Newton hearing, which happens when the facts of a case are disputed between the prosecution and defence.Judge David Herbert KC told the defendant, who is scheduled to be sentenced on 18 September, that a very substantial prison term was inevitable.He said he would need to consider whether a life sentence was appropriate.Andrew Hopkinson, the district crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service East Midlands, said: “A man has pleaded guilty to 32 serious sexual offences committed against his partner.“This was a sustained campaign of abuse and the victim has shown great courage throughout this process.“We worked closely with Northamptonshire Police to build a thorough and compelling case that resulted in him pleading guilty to dozens of offences.”