Asylum seeker who raped woman, 18, jailed

An asylum seeker who raped a "particularly vulnerable" 18-year-old woman in a park in Nottinghamshire has been jailed for 10 years.

Sheraz Malik attacked his victim in Sutton Lawn park in Sutton-in-Ashfield on 29 June last year, shortly after she was raped by another man Malik was with, who has yet to be identified.

The 28-year-old, previously of Bath Street in Sutton-in-Ashfield, had claimed the sex was consensual, but was found guilty of two counts of rape by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court in January.

On Thursday Malik was given a sentence of 10 years in custody, plus four years on extended licence.

Warning: This article includes details that some readers may find distressing

Judge Simon Ash KC, sentencing, said Malik attacked the "particularly vulnerable" woman, despite knowing she was very drunk and had been left alone in a park at night with men she did not know, adding the defendant called her "a slut" repeatedly after the attack.

"When she tried to resist, you hit her hard to the face and head," he said.

"Some of the things you said to her did... amount to additional degradation and humiliation of her."

The trial had heard Malik is an asylum seeker, who was born in Pakistan and lived in France, Germany and Italy before coming to the UK.

A reporting restriction was put in place at Nottingham Crown Court in September last year, preventing any mention of the defendant's immigration status until the trial had concluded.

The court heard Malik arrived in the UK less than 12 months before the attack, and the sentencing hearing was told his case has not yet been considered.

Malik's trial heard the woman had been drinking at the park with a male friend, and was drunk when she met Malik and a group of other men she did not know.

Her friend, the court was told, asked Malik and his associates to "look after" the woman while he went to meet another friend, and when one of the group took the woman to an isolated part of the park so she could go to the toilet, he raped her.

Prosecution counsel Nicholas Corsellis KC previously told the court: "The defendant then decided he wished to have sex with her and took his turn to take her to a secluded spot, where he physically struck her while raping her."

During his trial, the court heard Malik had said he was playing cricket with other men and smoking cannabis in the park before the attack, and denied hitting the woman.

A victim impact statement was read out in court during the sentencing hearing, where the women said she often struggled to eat and sleep - and kept having nightmares about the attack.

She said she had suffered anxiety and stress as a result of her assault, and was worried about the impact of giving evidence again, if the second suspect was found and charged.

Part of the statement said: "I find myself struggling to cope.

"I keep having nightmares about the incident and the medical examination after it."

When imposing an extended sentence, the judge said Malik posed "a significant risk" to the public, and had neither shown remorse nor taken responsibility for the assault.

He also said a pre-sentence report found the defendant displayed "distorted thinking by [him] in relation to consent, personal entitlement and the objectification of women".

"Rather than feeling empathy towards [the victim], you appear to feel only hostility and anger towards her," he added.

The politician highlighted Malik's background on his Facebook and X accounts, leading to protesters demanding tighter rules on immigration, which were also met with counter-protests.

Following Malik's sentencing, Nottinghamshire Police said it was still searching for a second suspect in connection with the case.

Det Insp Nicole Milner said: "This remains a complex and demanding investigation, and one that continues to be a priority for [officers] as we pursue our inquiries to locate and arrest a further suspect.

"Above all, my thoughts are with the victim, whose courage, resilience and bravery have been evident throughout both the investigation and the criminal justice process."