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Today, we have the latest on an alleged sexual assault in Oldbury which the police are treating as a racially aggravated incident. One man has been arrested but the search for others who may have been involved, continues. Read more in your Big Story below.
Elsewhere, there’s unexpected support for Sunday League team Great Barr United who have gained some celebrity backers. And Unite (the union) has called for the government to provide a furlough scheme for employees affected by the Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack. Plus, Reform wins a council byelection in Pelsall, Walsall.
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Catch up and coming up:
- At the weekend, Kate caught up with West Midlands mayor Richard Parker about how he’s going to save the economy, why he wants to grow the region’s defence sector and his dislike of dining out.
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Photo of the week
A folk singer performs at Balsall Heath Carnival in 1968. Photo via the Balsall Heath Local History Society. The society has an event on Sunday as part of Birmingham Heritage Week (see our to do list). Were you at the carnival? Let us know in the comments.
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Big Story: 'Racist' Oldbury assault: Tommy Robinson wades in after sex attack
Top line: A man has been arrested in connection with the racially motivated, sexual assault of a Sikh woman in Oldbury last week. The story has rocked the local Sikh community, and the attack has been condemned by Tommy Robinson in a surprise video.
Context: A British-born Sikh woman, in her 20s, reported to police that she had been raped on Tame Road in Oldbury at about 8.30am last Tuesday. Police have been hunting for two white men, one with a shaved head, heavy build, and wearing a dark coloured sweatshirt and gloves. The second man was said to be wearing a grey top with a silver zip.
Racially motivated: The police are treating the alleged crime as racially aggravated — the victim told officers her attackers made a racist remark. According to Sikh Federation UK – a pro-Khalistan NGO that promotes Sikh issues – the men told her: “you don’t belong in this country, get out.”
Voice of the victim: In a statement made via the Sikh Press Association, the young woman said: “I would never wish this on anyone. All I was doing was going about my day on my way to work, and what has happened has deeply affected us.” She also personally thanked the organisation Sikh Youth UK for their support as well as the local Gurdwara and the rest of the community.
The community responds: On Friday, about 120 people including the Sikh community and other concerned locals, gathered at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick in response. On Sunday, a protest of hundreds was held on Tame Road. Attendee Sangat Singh told the BBC: “This was not only an attack on our community, but a violation of a woman's dignity — and it must be met with justice.”
A video of anti-immigration campaigner Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (known as Tommy Robinson) circulated online on Friday, ahead of his London rally which attracted hundreds of thousands of people. In the clip, he condemns the attack, saying “it’s our duty to speak up against every issue like this”.
Background: In 2017, Lennon was associated with Sikh Youth UK when Lennon attended its Yorkshire screening of a film allegedly portraying Muslim men as predatory sex groomers, The Independent reported at the time.
Political response: Labour MP for Smethwick, Gurinder Josan, told the BBC he had spoken with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and government ministers, saying "this is something they're taking very seriously." However, Sikh Federation (UK) today released a statement critcising Mahmood for not condemning the rape and Josan for supporting her.
An upcoming vigil: A community vigil is being held tomorrow (Tuesday 16 September) on Tame Road by the Jubilee play area at 6pm. The organiser Salman Mirza, told The Dispatch the gathering will show support for the victim and protest the threat to all women of colour at a time of rising racial tension. He added that women speakers would be prioritised and all are welcome.
Bottom line: A man in his 30s was arrested and detained for questioning on Sunday. The investigation is ongoing — anyone with information can use this portal to pass on details.
Brum in brief:
⚽ Two celebrity podcasters have thrown their weight behind a Birmingham Sunday League team in a surprising move to make it the “biggest” of its kind in the country. Pete Wicks and Sam Thompson, who started their careers on scripted reality shows The Only Way is Essex and Made in Chelsea, are co-hosts of the Staying Relevant podcast — a new sponsor of Great Barr United. On a recent episode, Thompson explained he had been inspired by Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds’s unexpected backing of championship team Wrexham A.F.C., and thought the pair could do the same in lower league footie. Wicks, on the other hand, is less enthusiastic. Responding to Thompson’s announcement in a recent episode that Great Barr had sent the pair a personalised kit each, he said “Wonderful, excellent, I’m so glad that I’m getting something for my money. I look forward to wearing that never.”
🚗 Unite the Union has urged the government to introduce a furlough scheme for workers who are at risk of losing their jobs due to an ongoing cyber attack at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). The attack struck on 31 August affecting JLR factories and around 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses who support the supply chain. JLR has said disruption will continue this week, with workers in its factories not expected to return until Thursday. ITV reports that it knows of a firm that has taken out a bank loan to pay its staff, with money running out by the end of the week. Mayor Richard Parker, who joined PM Keir Starmer at JLR in May to announce a new trade deal between the UK and the US, said in a statement: "I will keep pressing for every possible support to be made available so that we protect jobs, stabilise supply chains and help JLR recover quickly.”
🗳️ Reform has won its first foothold on Walsall Council in a tight by-election in leafy Tory stronghold Pelsall. Reform candidate Graham Eardley beat the Conservatives' Lee Chapman by 55 votes. Immigration and asylum hotels, crime and anti-social behaviour, the green belt and Walsall Council's competence were on voters' minds, as well as wanting to give the main Westminster parties a kicking. Eardley was a Walsall Conservative councillor in the 1990s and early 2000s, later standing consistently for UKIP in local and general elections. The Conservatives had an uphill struggle against perceptions of fierce infighting, after the resignation of previous Pelsall councillor Gary Perry from the council leadership and then from his seat alleging a campaign of “deliberate undermining, and personal hostility.” Reporting by Josh Neicho.
Quick Hits:
🍻 The WMCA has launched a search for industry figures to be on its new Night-Time Economy Commission. Made up of eight representatives, it will run for six months with the aim to protect and revitalise the troubled sector.
🚨 University College Birmingham has released a statement after a 17-year-old boy was stabbed on campus last Wednesday afternoon. A spokesperson said students had received “care and support” following the incident, with the victim being treated in hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Read more on The Tab.
📺 The BBC has signed an agreement with the WMCA to see TV production spend in the region go from £24m to £40m by the end of 2027. Mayor Richard Parker said: “Digbeth is going to be bigger, better and bolder than Media City in Salford.” Read more at Business Live.
Media picks:
📰 Screenwriter Steven Knight has been interviewed in The Times. His new Netflix series House of Guinness is a “wild ride through 19th century Dublin,” according to journalist Michael Hodges.
🗣️ The life of Birmingham's first poet laureate, Brian Lewis, has been celebrated in this obituary in The Guardian. From 1996-97, Smethwick-born Lewis helped to raise the profile of poetry across the city, running workshops and mentoring would-be and existing poets.
Our to do list:
🎤 This evening, songstress Self Esteem will be serenading the O2 Academy as part of her biggest tour yet. There are a few tickets left — from £34.50.
🎞️ On Wednesday, catch a screening of one of Adam Curtis’s earliest documentaries, The Great British Housing Disaster, featuring Druids Heath. Tickets from £5.
🛼 On Thursday, the Mockingbird Cinema is screening Rolling at the Tower, a documentary about the history of Brum’s roller-skating community, including a Q&A. Free or £6.13. Watch the trailer here.
🎞️ On Friday, Stirchley Open Cinema brings the city to the silver screen for Birmingham Heritage Week. Enjoy a selection of shorts followed by the feature length Felicia’s Journey. Tickets £6.
🚶♀️On Sunday, another Heritage Week pick: explore Balsall Heath on foot, and learn about how it changed between the 1960s and the 1990s. Includes a visit to the City Farm. Free.
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