The trial of a French man who recruited dozens of strangers to rape his drugged wife has heard how another man living in the same area copied the tactics to drug and rape his own wife.

On Wednesday, the court of five professional judges heard how another man on trial, named as Jean-Pierre, was an alleged “disciple” of Dominique Pélicot. He was not on trial for raping Gisèle Pélicot, but rather for using the same method to rape his own wife and enlisting Pélicot to rape her too.

Jean-Pierre, 63, a former lorry driver for an agricultural cooperative, is alleged to had contact with Pélicot in a chatroom and allegedly used the same technique to drug his own wife with sedatives in order to rape her, with Pélicot’s involvement. Pélicot is alleged to have provided sedatives to drug the man’s wife and travelled to rape her himself.