British man charged with racially aggravated rape of Indian-origin girl in U.Okay.

A person arrested on suspicion of the racially aggravated sexual assault of an Indian-origin girl in Walsall has been charged with rape and appeared earlier than Birmingham Magistrates Court on Wednesday (October 29, 2025).

The West Midlands Police stated John Ashby, “who’s a white British man aged 32 from Stockland Green”, was charged on Tuesday night.

The rape cost comes after a lady in her 20s, recognized regionally as a Sikh scholar, was attacked in Walsall on Saturday night time.

“He was additionally charged with sexual assault, strangulation, racially aggravated precise bodily hurt and theft,” the police stated.

Detective Superintendent Ronan Tyrer from the West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit, who’s main the investigation, stated the girl who was the topic of the assault has been knowledgeable of the charging resolution.

“She is continuous to be supported by our specially-trained officers,” he stated.

Chief Superintendent Phil Dolby from the native Walsall Police stated his workforce will proceed their patrols and conversations within the neighbourhood, which has been shaken up by the assault.

“We know the worry and concern this assault has prompted in our communities. We proceed to talk to individuals locally to take heed to and perceive their considerations,” stated Mr. Dolby.

“Officers have visited religion institutions in Walsall and spoken with native leaders about ladies’s security and what measures males can take to make ladies really feel extra comfy.”

“We must proceed to keep up these conversations and the way we construct on ladies’s security locally,” he stated.

The residents of the quiet, leafy neighbourhood in Walsall had expressed shock earlier this week after the assault over the weekend. U.Okay. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described it as a “horrific crime”.

“I do know the worry that can be felt by the native Sikh group. I’ve sought assurances from the police and native leaders that they’re doing all they will to assist everybody impacted by this crime,” she stated.

On Sunday, the police had launched CCTV footage of the suspect, described as a white male in his 30s, after they had been referred to as to Park Hall space of Walsall on Saturday night following “considerations for the welfare of a lady in misery on the street”. The arrest of the person, now charged, adopted on Monday.

The assault adopted the racially aggravated sexual assault of one other British Sikh girl in her 20s in close by Oldbury final month. The West Midlands police are but to cost anybody in that ongoing investigation.

“The repeated sample of violence in opposition to ladies in our area, compounded by hate and racial overtones, is deeply disturbing,” stated Preet Kaur Gill, British Sikh Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston.