Mechanic offered drug 'hair serum' to rape unconscious wife, Manchester trial told
Nine men are on trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court over alleged sexual offences against a Stockport woman drugged by her husband.
'Special serum' plot: nine men face rape conspiracy charges in Manchester
A mechanic from Kent offered to supply a substance he called a "special serum" to render a woman unconscious so she could be raped, a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court has heard, itv.com reports.
Daniel Rayner, 42, of Whitstable, is one of nine men currently on trial facing various allegations of sexual offending against the woman. Her husband, who is in his 60s and cannot be named to protect his wife's identity, pleaded guilty in September to multiple offences including rape, sexual assault and administering a substance with intent to commit a sexual offence, dating back to 2004. He is expected to give evidence against the defendants later this month.
Prosecutors on Thursday read out an exchange on the Telegram messaging app between the husband and Rayner, dating from 2024. In the messages, Rayner asked whether the husband was "still having fun" with his wife before writing: "I'd love to give you some of my special serum to see her totally out of it for a while."
Rayner also asked about images and videos the husband had shared online, and inquired whether online "sleep groups" — communities for people with a sexual interest in unconscious individuals — still existed or had changed names.
Months later, Rayner told the husband he could obtain GHB, widely known as the "date rape drug". When the husband remarked it was a shame Rayner lived so far away, Rayner replied: "Always willing to drive for some fun."
The court heard that in 2022 Rayner purchased a "sleeping liquid" packaged as "hair serum" from a website selling sexual wellness and sleep-related products. Items on the site, listed in Chinese and English, were described as having "amnesiac properties so no memory during sleeping process and no side effects". The following year Rayner bought additional bottles of the same product, also referred to as "hair tonic".
Jurors heard that the husband filmed his abuse of his wife at the couple's home in Stockport, Greater Manchester, as she lay "out of it" on their bed, and then distributed the material online. From 2023 onwards, the Crown alleges, he began inviting other men to the home, where it is said he and others sexually abused her while she was unconscious.
The investigation began after undercover journalists in Germany infiltrated a Telegram chat group in October 2025. Authorities were alerted and an inquiry identified the husband as one of the users who had shared footage of the abuse.
The seven men alleged to have visited the couple's home to commit contact offences including rape are: taxi driver Philip Wild, 59, of Stockport; recruitment agency worker Mohammed Sabir, 28, of Stockport; building supplies employee Jordan Wallace, 31, of Wythenshawe; industrial cleaning worker Alan Keelan, 42, of Wythenshawe; retiree Robert Stewart, 70, of Stockport; sheet metal worker Richard Townsend, 38, of Heywood, Greater Manchester; and senior paramedic Jonathan Kirk, 43, of Stockport.
The Crown categorises Rayner and kitchen sales representative David Graves, 60, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, as non-contact offenders who allegedly conspired remotely to have substances administered to the woman and for her to be raped.
Rayner denies conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration, and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent. All nine defendants deny the allegations. The husband will be sentenced at a later date.
Source: Sky News