Rapist pleads guilty after sikh woman confronts him in court

A man who racially abused a Sikh woman as he raped her has pleaded guilty to the assault after being confronted in court by a member of the public.

Ashby pleaded guilty to rape, religiously aggravated assault, intentional strangulation, robbery, and religiously aggravated assault of the woman at her home in walsall.

Ashby initially pleaded not guilty but unexpectedly changed his pleas after he was sworn at by a member of the public in Birmingham Crown Court.

The 32-year-old, of no fixed abode, asked to see his barrister and changed his pleas about an hour after being sworn at and told to “sort your shit out” by a member of the public who approached the dock.

The victim, who is in her 20s, was due to give evidence on Tuesday.

Ashby, who wrongly believed the woman was Muslim, used Islamophobic slurs during the attack, calling her a “fucking Muslim bitch”.

The judge said Ashby had been “convicted of very serious offences” and warned that he was considering the imposition of a life sentence.

Prosecution lawyer Philip Bradley KC told the court on Monday that Ashby had followed the woman home in Walsall in October last year.

The victim had returned home from work and had gone upstairs to change her clothes when she heard a noise downstairs, the prosecution said.

“As she was home alone, she had no reason to lock the bathroom door but now rushed to do so,” Bradley said.

“She was too late.”

Ashby barged inside where he strangled the victim before repeatedly religiously abusing her.

Ashby told the women she was “dirty” and said he was her “master,” the court heard.

The ordeal ended after Ashby ran out of the house when he was “spooked by a noise outside,” Bradley added, taking the victim’s jewellery and mobile phone.