Asylum seeker facing life sentence for hotel worker Rhiannon Whyte’s murder near Bescot Stadium station

Mr Justice Soole adjourned sentence on Deng Chol Majek in October amid doubts about the Sudanese migrant’s claim to be only 19 years old.

A trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court was told Majek was seen dancing and laughing at Walsall’s Park Inn Hotel after stabbing Rhiannon Whyte 23 times on a platform at Bescot Stadium railway station.

The killer, who is believed to have entered the UK by small boat less than three months before the killing, is known to have given authorities in Germany a date of birth that would mean he is now 28.

At his trial, Majek claimed he was not a figure caught on CCTV tracking Ms Whyte and told jurors he left a pregnant wife behind in Sudan.

The only agreed facts relating to his background presented to the jury were that he had no previous convictions or cautions recorded against him and that he had been arrested in Kaiserslautern in Germany in August 2023 after kicking the door of a train.

Jurors heard Majek was reported to security at the Park Inn, where he lived and Rhiannon worked, after “spookily” staring at three female staff members for prolonged periods on October 20 2024.

Rhiannon finished work at 11pm and was then “tracked” on foot by Majek to the station, where he inflicted 19 wounds to her head, including a fatal brain stem injury.

CCTV showed Majek 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 that pulled in about five minutes later.

Majek, who at 6ft 3in was about 10 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.

A housing officer based at the hotel told jurors Majek almost seemed sad before Ms Whyte was stabbed and appeared to be “back to himself” after she was taken to hospital.

No motive for the killing was given at the trial, but Majek had brushed past Ms Whyte earlier in the evening as he left the hotel to smoke.

Speaking outside court after the trial, one of Rhiannon Whyte’s three sisters, Alex Whyte, described her sibling as someone with “a beautiful and bright future” who was smart, kind, funny, caring and hardworking.

She said: “On Sunday the 20th October 2024, my family were handed a life sentence when Deng Chol Majek launched a frenzied and unprovoked attack on Rhiannon for no apparent reason whatsoever.

“On that horrific day, our precious Rhiannon was shown no mercy. Throughout this trial we have been given no reason as to why he chose Rhiannon, no accountability for his actions and no remorse.

“She fought for her life and to save herself from this sick, twisted and cowardly human – who showed no regard for Rhiannon or human life.”

Majek will be sentenced at Coventry Crown Court in a hearing starting at 10.30am.