Asylum seeker guilty of hotel worker's savage murder

An asylum seeker has been found guilty of murdering a hotel worker, who he stabbed 23 times with a screwdriver at a railway station.

Deng Chol Majek had denied killing 27-year-old Rhiannon Whyte, who died three days after being attacked at Bescot Stadium station, in Walsall, in October 2024.

The killer was staying at the nearby Park Inn Hotel, where Ms Whyte worked, and staff reported Majek, originally from Sudan, had earlier been staring at her and others, in a "scary" and "spooky" manner.

CCTV captured Majek following Ms Whyte to the station before he fled minutes later. He was then seen dancing and drinking in the hotel car park, behaviour described as "callous" by prosecutors.

He showed no emotion when the jury returned its verdict after a little over two hours of deliberations.

Ms Whyte's mother Siobhan put her head in her hands and started crying when the verdict was read out, while Ms Whyte's two sisters were also in tears.

In a statement outside court, her sister Alexandra, who is now raising Ms Whyte's son, aged only five at the time, said: "Deng Chol Majek stalked, hunted and then preyed on our defenceless Rhiannon, before cornering her and unleashing a vicious attack – and for what purpose?

"She was at work, helping people as she always did, and he chose her for no purpose other than cold-blooded self-gratification."

Alexandra said Majek had stolen a "crucial piece" of her family.

"He took so many opportunities from Rhiannon, she will never watch her son grow up, we will never watch her marry, build a family, buy her first house or learn to drive," she said.

She said getting justice for her sister was not the end of her story and her family would continue to "advocate to evoke change" in her name.

"Many have tried to imply this is about immigration, but these are the choices of one man, not an ethnic group," she added.

Before he was convicted, in a trial that lasted two weeks at Wolverhampton Crown Court, the jury heard Majek travelled to the UK on a small boat, arriving on 29 July 2024.

He was living at the Park Inn Hotel, which was owned by Radisson but was then being managed by Serco as an asylum hotel.

On 20 October 2024 Ms Whyte, who had worked at the hotel for three months, was on a late shift from 15:00 to 23:00 BST.

The court heard that earlier in the day her co-workers noticed Majek staring at her and other colleagues, in a manner described as "intimidating, scary and spooky".

At the end of her shift, Ms Whyte went outside for a vape, before walking across the road to the station to catch a train home.

Majek was seen on CCTV following her from a distance to the station and stalking her over the bridge to platform two.

Ms Whyte had called her friend Emma Cowley, who she had known since they were five, while she was on the way to the station.

During video evidence to the court, Ms Cowley said she heard two "terrified, high pitched" screams and then a long breath, before the phone went dead.

At that point on the deserted station platform, Ms Whyte had been stabbed 23 times, 11 of which penetrated her skull, with one cutting through her brain stem.

Minutes after the attack, she was found slumped in a platform shelter by a member of railway staff, who was assisted by a hotel worker.

Ms Whyte initially survived, but never regained consciousness and died in hospital three days later.

After he launched the attack, Majek was caught on camera walking quickly away from the scene before throwing Ms Whyte's phone into the River Tame.

The murder weapon, believed to be a screwdriver, has never been found.

Less than 90 minutes later, more footage showed Majek dancing at the hotel, while emergency services were still working at the nearby scene.

Prosecutors told the jury Majek's actions after the murder had been "utterly callous".

Despite the figure in the CCTV footage being of a similar build and wearing identical clothing as Majek, the killer repeatedly argued in court it was not him.

He also said other evidence, which included Ms Whyte's DNA under his nails and her blood on his clothing, was wrong.

Because of discrepancies over how old Majek is the judge, Mr Justice Soole, has ordered an age assessment report be drawn up before he is sentenced.

In court, Majek claimed he was aged 19, but prosecutors said they believed him to be in his mid 20s. Establishing accurately how old he is, will have a bearing on how he is sentenced.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place at the same court on 15 December.

After thanking the jury, the judge referred to the "quiet dignity" Ms Whyte's family had shown throughout the "demanding" two-week trial.

"It is unimaginable and I thank you and admire you for it," he said.

Following Majek's conviction Carla Harris, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Rhiannon Whyte should have been able to go to work and come home safely – but Deng Chol Majek robbed her of her life and future.

"He attacked her for no reason, and callously left her bleeding on a station platform.

"He then appeared to rejoice in his actions, having been caught laughing and dancing on footage an hour later."

Det Ch Insp Paul Attwell, of British Transport Police, said it was very unlikely the motive behind Majek's decision to "launch his savage attack" will ever be known.

He said the killer appeared "completely unbothered, bored even" throughout the trial, much to the distress of Ms Whyte's family.

"It was a brutal, cowardly and unprovoked attack on a vibrant and selfless young woman, who had her whole life ahead of her," Det Ch Insp Atwell said.