An undercover investigation conducted by two journalists from the German broadcaster NDR has resulted in a criminal trial in England, where more than a dozen men face charges of serial rape. Although the investigation was instrumental in uncovering the crimes, the NDR announced it will not publish the report at this time due to judicial restrictions on reporting that could influence the ongoing legal proceedings. The broadcaster intends to release the findings at a later date.
The trial opened on November 2 at the Crown Court in Manchester. The primary defendant is accused of secretly drugging and raping his wife repeatedly over a period exceeding 20 years. He has already pleaded guilty to 62 charges, which include multiple instances of rape against his long-term partner and the recording of video and photographic evidence of these assaults. The alleged crimes date back to 2004. In the British legal system, the verdict will be determined by a randomly selected jury of twelve people. The court fears that media coverage preceding the trial could bias the jurors' decisions.
Prosecutor Louise Oakley stated during the reading of charges on Monday that in October 2025, undercover journalists infiltrated a chat group on the messaging app Telegram. Within this group, several men expressed a specific interest in having sex with sleeping or unconscious individuals. Four additional men have already pleaded guilty to sexual offenses against the victim. The prosecution is accusing at least nine other men of raping the woman as well. Among those accused are a paramedic and a children's football coach.
The pattern of violence in this case bears similarities to the high-profile trial of Gisèle Pelicot in France, whose husband Dominique Pelicot drugged her for years, raped her, and facilitated her rape by other men. In December 2024, a criminal court in Avignon found 80 men guilty of approximately 200 rapes committed against her. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while fifty co-defendants received sentences ranging from three to fifteen years. Similar cases involving multiple rapes have also been prosecuted in Germany this year, with trials taking place in cities including Berlin, Aachen, Mannheim, Landau, Stuttgart, and Siegen.
Sources: FAZ.