Asylum seeker jailed for murdering hotel worker at a Walsall train station
He stabbed Rhiannon Skye Whyte 23 times on the platform at Bescot Stadium Station
Last updated 20 hours ago
An "utterly callous" asylum seeker has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years for stabbing a hotel worker 23 times on a railway station platform in Walsall.
Deng Chol Majek, who is believed to have entered the UK by small boat less than three months before launching a frenzied attack on Rhiannon Whyte, was found guilty of murder in October.
A two-week trial heard that Majek had been reported to security at the Park Inn hotel in Walsall, West Midlands, where he lived and Rhiannon worked, after "spookily" staring at three female staff members for prolonged periods on October 20 last year.
Rhiannon finished work at 11pm and was then "tracked" on foot by Majek to the nearby Bescot Stadium station, where he inflicted 19 wounds to her head, including a fatal brain stem injury.
CCTV played at Majek's trial showed he disappeared from view on to a deserted platform for 90 seconds at about 11.18pm to attack Ms Whyte, 27, the mother of a five-year-old son.
She died in hospital three days later, after being found injured in a shelter on the platform by the driver and guard of a train which pulled in about five minutes later.
No motive for the killing was given at the trial, but Majek, originally from Sudan, had brushed past Ms Whyte earlier in the evening as he left the hotel to smoke.
He is alleged to have lied to the court about his age, claiming to be 19 despite a date of birth making him 27 being recorded by authorities during a failed asylum claim in Germany.
Majek, who at 6ft 3in was about ten inches taller than Ms Whyte, walked to the Caldmore Green area of Walsall after the attack to buy beer and was recorded on CCTV apparently wiping blood from his trousers.
He returned to the hotel at 12.13am, changed his bloodstained flip-flops for trainers and was seen dancing with other residents in the car park, within sight of emergency vehicles called to the station.
In her closing speech to the jury, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said of Majek's behaviour after the murder: "He is celebrating, his mood has changed from that prolonged scowl in the cafe before the murder to dancing and joy after the murder.
"It is utterly callous."
Speaking in a pooled interview, the family of Ms Whyte said the year since her death had been "hell on earth", but they remain focused on keeping alive the memory of their quirky and caring loved one who "would always put everyone else before herself".
They have also spoken of the heartache of having to break the news of her death to her young son.
Ms Whyte's sister Alex said of the strength shown by her siblings, mother and wider family members: "This is everything that Rhiannon would have ever wanted.
"The strength that we've kept as a family, the positivity that is instilled in our children and in her son. We promised her in the hospital we were going to live the way she wanted us to live."