John Ashby, 32, is on trial accused of rape
17:36, 20 Apr 2026Updated 17:43, 20 Apr 2026
Stock image of a police scene(Image: Darren Quinton/Coventry Telegraph)
*** Warning: This article contains details of a distressing nature ***
A Sikh woman was raped by a ‘stranger’ in her home ‘because he thought she was Muslim’, jurors have heard.
John Ashby ‘barged’ into the woman’s home in Walsall after following her off a bus and ‘assessing’ how he could get inside her property, prosecutors say.
The 32-year-old allegedly branded her a ‘Muslim b****’, telling her he was there to ‘have fun’ and ‘give her some British c***’.
As he attacked her, he told her to say ‘hallelujah’ and ‘repeat his mantra’ that ‘he was the master and she was a b****’, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Ashby ran from the house after his alleged rape, with the ‘understandably hysterical’ woman heard screaming out ‘help me’ as neighbours rushed to her aid.
The defendant was arrested in Perry Barr days later and told police, as he was booked into custody: “You never see any Englishmen in Perry Barr anymore.”
When police showed Ashby a photo of the woman during interview, he asked why she was not wearing a hijab.
Of the Crown’s case that the alleged offence was religiously aggravated, prosecutor Phil Bradley KC said: “It was his hostility towards her, believing she was a Muslim and calling her a Muslim b**** before assaulting her.”
Ashby, of no fixed abode, denies rape, intentional strangulation, robbery of jewellery and a mobile phone, and religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm on October 25 last year.
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The woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – left work and caught the bus to Walsall town centre at about 4.30pm, jurors heard.
She went to Poundland before getting back on the bus to go home.
In his opening of this case, Mr Bradley said: “A few minutes earlier, unbeknownst to her, this defendant had got on the same bus.
“He initially sat upstairs but a short while later, he moved to the lower level and that’s where the woman happened to be sitting.
“A complete stranger to her, this defendant was nevertheless interested in her and had already targeted her.
“We know that because, within seconds of her getting off the bus, at just after 6.30pm to begin the short walk home, he did the same and then he began following her.”
The woman had not noticed Ashby so continued her walk home ‘normally’, the jury of six men and six women were told.
Footage from CCTV is said to have captured Ashby walking past the woman’s address and ‘disappearing from view’ before he was then seen on the driveway of a property behind her home.
Mr Bradley said: “He was doubtless assessing how he could get into her home address.”
Ashby then allegedly picked up a stick and placed it inside his jacket.
After arriving home, the woman went upstairs to change her clothes and then into the bathroom.
Mr Bradley said: “She told police that while she was there she heard a noise downstairs.
“Because she was home alone, she had no reason to lock the bathroom door but now rushed to do so, initially thinking it was a housemate coming back.
“However, she was too late. This defendant barged his way in and so the woman’s ordeal began.”
Once inside, Ashby is said to have turned the lights off and told her ‘he was here to have fun’.
Mr Bradley continued: “Despite her screams, he told her to take her clothes off.
“He struck her with the stick that he had placed into his jacket and he put his hands around her neck to strangle her.”
Ashby then ‘demanded’ she climb into the bathtub, Mr Bradley told the court.
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The prosecutor continued: “Throughout the attack, he racially and religiously abused her.”
Ashby is said to have called the woman a ‘f****** Muslim b****’ and told her she was ‘dirty’.
He allegedly asked which toothbrush was hers ‘because he wanted to clean his teeth’ .
As she sat naked in the bathtub, he ‘exposed’ himself and ‘slapped’ her hair with his genitals, the prosecution say.
Ashby told the woman to say ‘hallelujah’ as he poured hot water over her, ‘repeatedly, telling her he was the ‘master, a big master’ and she was a ‘f****** b****’, Mr Bradley alleged.
He then is said to have raped her – but was ‘not yet finished’.
Ashby told the woman to go into the bedroom and lie on the bed, jurors were told.
Mr Bradley said: “He repeated that he was there to have fun and to give her some British c***, a big white c***.”
He told her his name was John and that she needed to ‘repeat his mantra’ which was ‘that he was the master and she was a b****’, Mr Bradley alleged.
In a ‘desperate attempt to raise the alarm’, the woman ‘seized her chance to go downstairs’, telling him there was oil in the kitchen.
She ran to the front door but the defendant ‘dragged her back into the house’, it is said.
Mr Bradley said that Ashby then became ‘evidently spooked’ by a noise outside.
‘In another attempt to seize the moment’, the woman said it was her housemate, the court heard.
The woman ‘screamed’, with neighbours rushing to her aid and finding her ‘understandably hysterical’.
Mr Bradley said: “She was naked and she was thoroughly distressed.”
He went on: “There can be no doubt that this defendant was the man who attacked the woman.”
Following an examination, Ashby’s DNA was found on the woman, while DNA on a vape and toothbrush inside the woman’s home matched the defendant.
The woman also identified Ashby during an identification parade, the jury heard.
Ashby was arrested in Perry Barr two days later and answered no comment in interview – except when he was shown a photograph of the woman.
Mr Bradley said: “He asked why she wasn’t wearing a hijab and added “I don’t know who that woman is as far as I’m aware”.”
The court heard how the woman came to the UK for work in September 2023.
It is understood that the issue in the case is one of consent, jurors heard.
The trial continues.
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