This week, Philip Young, a 49-year-old former Conservative councillor in the Chichester area of Sussex, faces even more serious imputations. He stands accused of drugging, maiming, and raping his ex-wife, Joanne Young. The highly concerning allegations span an incredible 13-year period, from 2010 to 2023. This timeline is deeply worrying—not just the scope of his conduct over those years, but the reach of his predation. Young, who was an independent councillor on Swindon Borough Council between 2007 and 2010, now lives in Enfield, north London.
Young now faces a jaw-dropping 56 charges altogether. This includes 11 counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault by penetration. Currently, he is facing four counts of sexual touching. In addition, he has been federally charged with 11 counts of administering a drug with intent to injure or commit a crime. These allegations, if proven true, are appallingly egregious. It doesn’t stop there though, things get worse with voyeurism charges including 13 counts for specific videos and voyeurism on at least 200 other times.
The investigation uncovered horrific evidence involving child exploitation as well. Young now faces dangerous offender charges for having 230 indecent images of children. Of those, 139 images are classified as A level, the highest classification for child pornographic material.
During his last court hearing, Martin Clarke, the magistrate in charge of hearing Young’s case made an immediate appeal.
“Your cases are indictable-only, so they can only be heard in the crown court. So we’re sending all these matters to the crown court.” – Martin Clarke
Young was remanded into custody, and is due to appear at Swindon Crown Court on January 23. His defence attorney, Paul Dillon, told the court,
“In these circumstances, sir, there’s nothing to add.” – Paul Dillon
The alleged offences against Joanne Young took place over a very short period. Further, these questions beg to be answered about the nature of their relationship and what led to these serious allegations.
Authorities have not released any further information about the investigation or what evidence has been gathered against Young. The case has attracted a huge amount of public interest, because of the severity of charges and Young’s former political office.
As these important legal proceedings continue, the community will be watching with bated breath for further progress made on this shocking case. The importance of allegations like these leveled against a former public official underscore continued need to hold leaders accountable and combat threat and fear-based violence in society.