WALSALL — John Ashby was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to life in prison with a minimum term of 14 years for the racially motivated rape of a Sikh woman at her Walsall home in October last year. Ashby, 32, pleaded guilty to all four counts on the second day of his trial.

Ashby barged into the home of the victim, a woman in her 20s whom he mistakenly believed was Muslim, and raped her while subjecting her to racist and misogynistic abuse. He called the victim "dirty" and described himself as "the master" during the attack. He referred to his genitalia as "white" and "British" in the bedroom, and demanded that the victim repeat that he was a "master" and she was a "bitch".

Prosecuting, Philip Bradley KC said Ashby told the victim he was there to have fun. Ashby demanded that the victim climb into the bath and put the hot water on before asking which toothbrush was hers so he could clean his teeth. He stole the victim's jewellery and mobile phone before running away.

Police arrested him two days after the attack after DNA and fingerprint evidence taken from a toothbrush and a vape at the victim's home matched him. During his police interview, Ashby answered "no comment" to all questions apart from one.

Sukhvinder Kaur, chair of Sikh Women's Aid, said the organisation had never previously dealt with a case of racially aggravated rape. "It's an element of rape that we have not encountered within our service before, this is unprecedented for us." she said. "It was hate-filled rape. He thought she was a Muslim woman and he hated Muslim women that much that he felt absolutely entitled to do what he did to her." Kaur said the UK had taken a very worrying turn in its treatment of marginalised communities. "Migrants are being scapegoated so much on a political level, on an online level and on a global level as well," she said.

Shaista Gohir, chair of the Muslim Women's Network, said she was deeply appalled by the incident. "This horrific case exemplifies the ways in which religious hatred is often racialised, with victims being targeted based on perceptions of their appearance, race, ethnicity or clothing." The Muslim Women's Network called on the government to take urgent action to improve protections for minority ethnic women.