Man handed life sentence for rape and religiously aggravated abuse of Sikh woman

British Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLive HomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherMan given life sentence for rape and religiously aggravated assault of Sikh woman6 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleVanessa PearceandAlex McIntyre,West MidlandsWest Midlands PoliceJohn Ashby has been given a life sentenceA man who raped a Sikh woman in her home while subjecting her to a tirade of religiously aggravated abuse has been handed a life sentence. During his attack in Walsall, John Ashby beat the woman - in her 20s - with a stick, while also shouting anti-Muslim abuse, wrongly believing her to be of that faith. In a sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, the judge described the 32-year-old as a "deeply unpleasant racist and Islamaphobe". During the trial, which began on Monday and ended on Tuesday when Ashby admitted his guilt, the court heard how he had followed the victim - a stranger - as she got off a bus in October 2025. After the woman reached her home, Ashby, without her knowledge, also entered the property, armed with a two-foot stick he had picked up from the ground. He admitted charges of rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assault. Passing sentence, judge Mr Justice Pepperall said Ashby, of no fixed address, had held her against her will "as you sexually and physically assaulted her for at least 24 minutes