UK man jailed for life for religiously aggravated rape of Sikh woman

John Ashby, a British man arrested last October days after the attack that sent shockwaves within the West Midlands community, had initially denied charges of sexual assault, strangulation, racially aggravated actual bodily harm and robbery before admitting the crimes.

He has now been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 14 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.

The judge described Ashby as a “deeply unpleasant racist and Islamophobe” after the court had previously heard that he had directed anti-Muslim rants at the woman during the attack.

“I have no doubt that you are a very dangerous man,” Justice Pepperall told him during the sentencing hearing.

“You pose an extreme danger to women and no reliable way to say how long you remain a danger,” he said.

According to a BBC court report, Justice Pepperall detailed some of the aggravating factors that had resulted in his life sentence ruling as Ashby’s drug use, previous offending, using the stick as a weapon and the “severe psychological harm” his actions had on the victim for being targeted in her own home.

During the trial earlier this week, the jury heard how the victim – in her 20s – was followed by Ashby from the bus stop to her home.

Later, CCTV footage showed that he had been riding the same bus as her on October 25 last year. He went on to subject her to a tirade of anti-Muslim abuse, wrongly believing her to be of that faith.

In an impact statement read out in court on Friday, the victim whose anonymity is protected by law revealed how the attack had changed every part of her life.

“Immediately after the incident, I knew I had to move house. I could not go back into the place I once called home,” she said in her statement.

The court heard how she and her partner were due to marry in January until her life was “drastically changed” by the attack.

“I feel like that version has been stripped away with no explanation. I feel lost,” she said.

After her attacker had pleaded guilty, the victim who was in court and visibly upset during the course of the sentencing hearing said she “finally felt free” and no longer “trapped”.

“I know he can no longer get to me or hurt me anymore… I refuse to let this define me and stop me from living my life to the fullest,” she added.

Earlier, the court heard that the attack only came to an end because Ashby was “evidently spooked by a noise outside” and ran away, taking the victim’s jewellery and a mobile phone.

The woman raised the alarm before police arrived, and later picked her attacker out at an identity parade days later.

In a video interview played in the court this week, the victim told police that her attacker had a stick in his hand and verbally abused her.

According to local media reports from Birmingham, Ashby’s guilty plea followed a heated outburst from a member of the Sikh community in the public gallery during an earlier hearing.

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