Court lifts anonymity order on 13 men charged alongside man accused of drugging and raping wife

Alan Keelan (right), one of the co-defendants, arriving at Minshull Street magistrates court in March. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA View image in fullscreen Alan Keelan (right), one of the co-defendants, arriving at Minshull Street magistrates court in March. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Court lifts anonymity order on 13 men charged alongside man accused of drugging and raping wife Co-defendants in case against Stockport man include a paramedic, a football coach and a taxi driver The identities of 13 men charged alongside a man accused of drugging and raping his wife can be revealed after reporting restrictions were lifted. The main defendant in the case is due to go on trial in September. He stands accused of drugging and sexually assaulting his wife over a period of 20 years and conspiring with other men to engage in abuse. The identity of the man, who is in his 60s and from the Stockport area of Greater Manchester, cannot be revealed in order to protect his wife’s anonymity. He has pleaded guilty to 15 charges – five rapes, three sexual assaults, six assaults by penetration and one count of sharing intimate images without consent – and denies 33 other charges. His co-defendants, who range in age from 28 to 73, face charges including conspiracy to rape and conspiracy to assault by penetration. During a series of preliminary hearings at Manchester’s Minshull Street crown court, some of the men, who include a paramedic, a football coach and a taxi driver, have been dressed smartly in shirts and ties while others have arrived at court wearing tracksuits and slouched in the dock. Some of the men are alleged to have directly participated in the abuse of the woman, while others are alleged to have encouraged the commission of sexual offences online. At a previous hearing, Keith Fortheringham, 59, from Dundee, a technician at the city’s university, pleaded guilty to assault by penetration, conspiracy to assault by penetration, conspiracy to rape and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent. He was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date. View image in fullscreen Jonathan Kirk, a senior paramedic, denies three charges. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic from Stockport, once met Prince Harry when the royal visited emergency services workers in Manchester in 2013 in the wake of rioting in the city. Kirk told the prince: “We were facing the rioters but we could not move back,” the Manchester Evening News reported at the time. Kirk has denied one charge of conspiracy to rape, one charge of conspiracy to assault by penetration, and one charge of rape. Philip Wild, 58, a taxi driver from Stockport, has denied five charges – conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration, sexual assault, attempted rape, and assault by penetration. View image in fullscreen Sean Peers denies two charges. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Sean Peers, 37, from Stockport, has denied one charge of assault by penetration and o