Jailed: Eight notorious West Midlands offenders locked behind bars in January - including a Sudanese asylum seeker who brutally murdered a mum
January has seen a string of vicious and violent criminals across the Black Country finally face justice for their crimes against local people - here's eight of the worst offenders who were jailed
Every day criminals arrrive in West Midlands' courtrooms to face justice for their crimes against local people.
In our monthly round-up, the Express & Star takes a look back at some of the most serious and heinous crimes dealth with by judges in January, and the criminals that committed them.
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The crimes range from assault and drug dealing to manslaughter and murder, with last month seeing a number of killers get lengthy sentences.
West Midladns court rooms featured two high-profile cases. From Wolverhampton to Walsall, here are eight of the most horrific cases to pass through our court systems last month.
1) Deng Chol Majek
'Cowardly and cold-blooded killer', Cheng Chol Majek, aged 27, was sentenced to serve a minimum of 29 years in prison following the horrific murder of Rhiannon Skye Whyte.
On Sunday, October 20, 2024, at around 11pm, Rhiannon finished her shift at a hotel near Bescot Stadium, Walsall, where Majek resided.
Finishing her shift, she walked only minutes away to the nearby train station to catch her train home.
However, whilst she was on her phone to her sister, unbeknownst to her, she was being stalked by Majek.
Once he caught up to her on the station platform, Majek launched his horrific attack, stabbing her repeatedly before hurrying away.
Sadly, Rhiannon died in hospital three days after the attack from a catastrophic brain injury. She was surrounded by her family and friends.
Only minutes following the killing on October 20, Majek was seen visiting a local shop to buy alcohol, before going back to his hotel room, where he was seen dancing and singing. He was arrested a few hours later.
Majek was described as a 'cold-blooded killer' by the British Transport Police, with West Midlands Police Detective Chief Inspector, Mr Paul Atwell, saying that 'no sentence or outcome' will ever truly be justic.
2 & 3) Shazad Jahan and Sajif Nawaz
Shazad Jahan and Sajif Nawaz were put behind bars on January 23 for their role in a £17 million money laundering operation.
The men would make in excess of 10 visits a day to Post Office branches across the West Midlands between 2021 and 2022, to hopes of avoiding suspicion when depositing large sums of cash, often of around £200,000 a day.
An investigation was launched into 45-year-old Shazad Jahan, 59-year-old Sajid Nawaz, and a third man, 47-year-old Naveed Gul, for their roles in the operation.
Following a complex and detailed investigation, all three were charged with offences relating to money laundering, and all pleaded guilty.
Jahan was jailed for five years and five months, Gul was jailed for four years and three months, whilst Nawaz was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.
4) Lewis Whitsey
Lewis Whitsey, aged 48, of Olton, was jailed after pleading guilty to wounding following the attack of a dog walker in woodland near Gospel Lane and Brookvale Road.
The attack, which took place on May 28 of last year, saw a verbal altercation take place when one of the dog walker's dogs was attacked by another dog.
Whitsey, who was nearby, joined the altercation before assaulting the man and leaving the scene; however, he later returned with a chainsaw and attempted to strike the man.
Luckily, the chainsaw cut out just as they went to attack him, and the man managed to escape the area.
Whitsey was jailed on Tuesday, January 20, for two years and two months.
5) Marcus Henry
Prolific shop thief, Marcus Henry, aged 34, of Spiral Close, Halesowen, was sentenced to serve 36 weeks in prison for crimes relating to shop thefts in Rowley Regis.
Between December 26 and January 6, Marcus Henry, aged 34, stole hundreds of pounds ' worth of items from two supermarkets in Rowley Regis.
Henry was found to have breached a Criminal Behaviour Order (BCO) that was issued in May, banning him from entering one of the supermarkets.
Officers arrested Henry at his home address, where he was subsequently charged with six counts of theft from shops and breaching a criminal behaviour order.
6) John McDonald
John McDonald, aged 51, of Bloxwich, Walsall, was jailed for 13 years and six months at Worcester Crown Court on January 13 after pleading guilty to death by dangerous driving.
West Midlands Police were in pursuit of John McDonald at approximately 10.15am on the morning of April 11, 2025, when he crossed the border into Staffordshire.
Still being pursued, John drove into Little Aston Golf Club, mounted a grass bank and proceeded to drive across the course.
However, when the van reached a small brook, it collided with 62-year-old Suzanne Cherry, from Aldridge, Walsall, who was playing golf with her husband at the time.
Suzanne was airlifted to the hospital at the time, but she sadly died on April 15, 2025.
Following the collision, McDonald got out of the van and ran off; however, he was arrested by police in Worcester on April 16.
Two other men, Brett Delaney, aged 35, of Darlaston, Walsall, and John's son, Johnny McDonald, aged 23, of Netherton, Dudley, were also in the vehicle at the time, and were sentenced after pleading guilty to fraud charges.
Brett Delaney was sentenced to 28 months for conspiracy to commit fraud, whilst Johnny was jailed for 32 months for the same charge.
7) Liam Moore
Prolific burglar, Liam Moore, was jailed after appearing before Birmingham Crown Court on January 21, where he pleaded guilty to 13 burglaries and 14 thefts of a motor vehicle.
The incidents took place between August 13 and October 7, 2023, and saw Liam, aged 20, break into people's houses before posting Snapchat videos of himself inside the homes.
He would also often record himself burning and snapping locks, and would take photos of the cars he had stolen.
Overall, it was estimated that Moore had stolen more than £300,000 worth of cars, and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Moore was sentenced to nine years in prison.
8) Jerome Blackburn
Jerome Blackburn. aged 33, was jailed on January 20 for crimes relating to non-recent rape of a child.
Jerome was brought to justice for his crimes when his victim, a man, reported being rapes as a child.
The force was contacted in 2020 about allegations against Blackburn dating back to 2009.
A police investigation found that Blackburn, from Edgebaston, had carried out a series of assaults on the boy, who was aged six at the time, and was also known to him.
The boy, now in his 20s, told officers what had happened, and following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court in December 2025, he was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child under the age of 13 and two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13.
At the same court on Tuesday, January 20, he was sentenced to seven years in prison, and will also be on the sex offenders register for life.
