Reform MP Slams Court for Hiding Rapist’s Asylum Status
28th January 2026
A Pakistani asylum seeker who was living in taxpayer-funded accommodation last year raped a vulnerable 18-year-old woman while she was alone in a park in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
Before being convicted on Monday, Sheraz Malik, 28, had his asylum status hidden from the public by Judge Nirmal Shant, who prevented the press from reporting on it until the end of his trial.
But Lee Anderson, Reform MP for the constituency in which this crime took place, revealed his status last summer, asking: “Why would it affect the trial … I will not shut up and do not care about the consequences.”