News · 21 April 2026
Man Admits Rape of Sikh Woman He Mistook for Muslim

A Sikh woman was followed home from a bus stop in Walsall in October and attacked inside her own home in a religiously aggravated rape and assault. John Ashby, 32, of no fixed abode, changed his plea to guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, admitting rape, robbery, intentional strangulation, and religiously aggravated assault. He wrongly believed the victim was Muslim, calling her a slur before she told him she was Sikh.
Reported by The Independent · How we write briefs
