John Ashby, 32, changed his guilty plea midway through his trial after a public outburst in the dock, admitting rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assault
A sexual predator who subjected a stranger to racist and anti-Muslim abuse while raping her in her own home has been jailed for life. John Ashby pleaded guilty to charges of rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assault on Tuesday after being verbally attacked in the dock.
The 32-year-old, of no fixed address, requested to speak with his barrister and altered his pleas approximately an hour after being sworn at and told to “sort your s*** out” by a member of the public who approached the dock.
His victim, a Sikh woman who was struck with a stick, had been scheduled to take the stand at Birmingham Crown Court later on Tuesday to testify against Ashby. Following Ashby’s change of pleas, Mr Justice Pepperall warned the defendant that he was contemplating imposing a life sentence.
“It seems to me that a stranger who breaks into a woman’s house, who commits these offences and does so expressing hostility to her on the basis of her presumed religion is a dangerous person,” the judge stated.
“I don’t think I need a report to tell me that.
“I will be considering very carefully whether a life sentence is the right sentence in this case.”
Today, he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years.
Presenting the case for the Crown on Monday, prosecution KC Phil Bradley claimed Ashby “targeted” the woman when he saw her on a bus and followed her to her Walsall home on foot last October.
Extracts from “harrowing” body-worn police footage showing the young woman – who was in court to see Ashby change his pleas – were played to the jury of six men and six women, during which she was comforted by a female officer and said her attacker had called her a “bloody Muslim b****”.
The woman told police she had been raped in a bathroom by the intruder, who claimed to be a “British master”.
In a video interview played to the trial, the complainant told police: “He had a stick in his hand. I said ‘who are you’ and I started screaming.
“He switched off the light. He said ‘I just want fun with you’. He said ‘you are a f****** Muslim b****’, I said ‘I am not a Muslim, I am a Sikh’.”
Prosecutors told the court there could be no doubt that Ashby was the man who attacked the woman, citing DNA evidence, fingerprints found on a vape and the fact he was picked out by the victim at an identity parade.
CCTV footage also placed Ashby near the scene, where he picked up the two-foot long stick.
The outburst that led to Ashby changing his pleas on Tuesday – which the judge described as an “ugly incident” – happened after the defendant appeared to whisper “it’s all b*******” during the Crown’s evidence.
A man believed to be a member of the Sikh community with an interest in the case, who was not known to the victim, then walked calmly to within 3ft of the glass-fronted dock and told Ashby: “You’re the b*******. You need to sort your s*** out.”
Following Ashby’s guilty pleas, Rav Dhillon of the Crown Prosecution Service commented: “This was a deeply disturbing attack driven by religious hatred, carried out against an innocent woman in her own home, where she would expect to feel safest.
“The CPS worked closely together with West Midlands Police to build a robust case which included CCTV footage, DNA evidence and witness testimony, and the strength of that evidence left the defendant no choice but to plead guilty.
“Our thoughts are with the victim, and we hope this outcome brings her some measure of justice.”