Asylum seeker jailed after rape conviction in Sutton park attack
Sheraz Malik was jailed for 10 years after a jury convicted him of raping an 18-year-old in Sutton Lawn park and cleared him on a third count.
Sheraz Malik was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court after a June 2025 attack in Sutton Lawn park left an 18-year-old victim unable to be named for legal reasons. Jurors took about three hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts on two counts of rape and found Malik not guilty on a third count of anal rape.
Nottinghamshire Police said the victim had been in the park with a friend on the evening of Sunday 29 June 2025 when she was introduced to Malik and a group of older men. Police said the jury heard that she was first raped by another member of the group before Malik led her to a secluded area and raped her again. The assault took place in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, and police said the case was built in part on DNA evidence linking Malik to the offence.
Malik, 28, denied the charges and told the court the sexual encounter was consensual. Police said he was arrested in Newcastle after the investigation identified him. He was living on Bath Street in Sutton-in-Ashfield at the time of the attack.
A reporting restriction imposed at Nottingham Crown Court in September 2025 had prevented Malik’s immigration status from being reported until after the trial concluded. That restriction has now been lifted, and Malik can now be identified as an asylum seeker who was born in Pakistan and had lived in Italy, Germany and France before coming to the UK.
The case has drawn attention because it centered on a young victim attacked in a public park, the use of DNA to secure a conviction, and the criminal justice system’s response after a fast-moving jury verdict. Malik was jailed for 10 years.
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