A man appeared in court today over a racially aggravated assault and rape of a woman in Walsall.
John Ashby, 32, was led into the dock at Birmingham Magistrates court with about 50 members of Walsall’s Sikh community looking on from the public gallery.
Ashby, described by police as white, British and from Stockland Green, Birmingham, was charged with rape, sexual assault, strangulation, racially aggravated actual bodily harm and robbery.
His appearance at Birmingham Magistrates Court this morning comes after a woman in her 20s was attacked in the Park Hall area of Walsall on Saturday night.
Officers were called to the area just after 7.15pm after a woman was reported to be distressed in the street.
The victim is believed to be a Punjabi woman, the Sikh Federation UK said on Monday.
The court heard the charges related to the robbery of a mobile phone and jewellery.
Ashby did not enter a plea to any of the five charges laid against him.
The Park Hall area of Walsall, where the alleged attack took place
There were no requests for bail and District Judge David Wain ordered that Ashby be kept in custody until his next hearing before Birmingham Crown Court on November 26.
There were ugly scenes as the defendant was led down stairs from the dock to the cells as one man yelled out from the public gallery, ‘You dirty b’’’’ard’.
Ashby, sporting a blonde beard and wearing a grey t-shirt, responded by banging on the Perspex glass separateing him from the packed gallery and shouting an offensive slogan back at the gallery.
DJ Wain demanded that the man responsible for the heckle apologise to the court.
‘I understand feelings are running high but we cannot have behaviour such as we have seen,’ he said.
After the man apologised, DJ Wain said he would not take any action for contempt of court but warned; ‘Behaviour like that in the Crown Court will be taken very seriously.’
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said the victim was not known to the attacker.
West Midlands Police said earlier this week that it was treating the attack as ‘racially aggravated’.
In a press release on Tuesday evening which announced the charging decision, Chief Superintendent Phil Dolby, of Walsall Police, said: ‘We know the fear and concern this attack has caused in our communities.
‘We continue to speak to people in the community to listen to and understand their concerns.
‘Officers have visited faith establishments in Walsall and spoken with local leaders about women’s safety and what measures men can take to make women feel more comfortable.
‘We need to continue to maintain those conversations and how we build on women’s safety in the community.’
Detective Superintendent Ronan Tyrer from the force’s Public Protection Unit said: ‘The woman who was the subject of the attack has been informed of the charging decision this evening.
‘She is continuing to be supported by our specially trained officers.’
In a separate statement last night, Ben Samples, Head of the CPS’s West Midlands Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit, said the decision to prosecute followed an ‘investigation by West Midlands Police which looked at the rape and assault of a woman in her 20s at a property in Walsall.’
He added: ‘Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
‘We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
‘It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.’
