Asylum seeker ‘followed migrant hotel employee home and stabbed her to death with a screwdriver on deserted train platform as she screamed’, court hears
An asylum seeker was seen ‘laughing and dancing’ with excitement after fatally stabbing a British woman who worked at the immigration hotel where he lived, a court heard.
It was claimed that Deng Chol Majek, a Sudanese national who claimed to be 19 years old, carried out a ‘crazy attack’ on Rhiannon Whyte while she was returning home from the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall.
The suspect is alleged to have followed the 27-year-old to an empty platform at Bescott station and stabbed him 23 times with a screwdriver as he waited to catch a late train on October 20 last year.
Ms Whyte was on the phone to a friend when she heard two screams when she was shot ‘repeatedly’ at 11.13pm. The line was cut off shortly after.
He was found slumped on the platform by a train driver 11 minutes later, but was too seriously injured to be saved and died surrounded by his family on 23 October.
Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC, who opened the case against Majek at Wolverhampton Crown Court today, said: ‘He left her until she bled to death and then casually returned to her hotel.’
After Ms Whyte was attacked, the defendant was allegedly seen on CCTV running from the platform up the stairs, holding a burning object in his hand; The prosecution said it was Ms Whyte’s phone.
Ms Heeley continued: ‘The defendant did not return directly to the hotel but went to a local shop and bought himself a drink first, returning to the hotel at 12.13pm.
‘He threw Rhiannon’s phone into the river between the station and the hotel, the police later found the phone.
‘When he arrived at the hotel he was seen dancing and laughing, clearly excited about what he had done.’
Security cameras showed him returning to the hotel with a black plastic bag that prosecutors said contained some alcohol.
Majek denies murdering Ms Whyte and a second charge of possessing a screwdriver in a public place.
Rhiannon Skye Whyte, 27, was attacked just after leaving work and died in hospital with her family by her side.
Miss Whyte, pictured, was on the phone to a friend who heard two screams as she was hit ‘repeatedly’.
Police were outside the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Bescot, Walsall, where Ms Whyte worked, following the attack.
Ms Heeley told the jury the defendant’s movements that night were recorded on CCTV and a compilation of them was presented to the court today.
Ms Whyte’s family, sitting in the public gallery, wiped away tears as they watched the footage.
The prosecutor said the relevant footage began at the hotel reception, where Majek was seen ‘staring at Rhiannon throughout the evening’.
‘No one could remember any issues that might have caused him to act this way,’ he said.
‘There was an issue with some residents regarding broken biscuits but nothing serious.’
When Ms Whyte left the hotel at 11pm, Majek was said to be ‘lurking outside reception’. He allegedly followed her and the prosecution claimed he was seen entering the train car park 90 seconds behind her.
Ms Heeley said the gap narrowed to just 30 seconds when she crossed the bridge separating the platforms. When he reached the platform he was alone.
‘That’s when the prosecution said this defendant assaulted her,’ Ms Heeley said.
‘Rhiannon was talking to her friend Emma. Then it went quiet and Emma heard a scream, then another scream and the phone went dead at 11.19pm.’
Ms Whyte was stabbed 23 times, including 11 stab wounds penetrating her skull; one of which damaged his brain vapor and ultimately caused his death.
Ms Heeley said police tracked down the defendant “very quickly” because he was wearing “very different clothes” and arrested him at the hotel a short time later.
The court heard that CCTV footage of clothes, including the jacket worn by the attacker, jewelery and a pair of sandals were found to have Ms Whyte’s blood on them.
The jury was told Ms Whyte’s DNA was found under the defendant’s fingernails. He is alleged to have thrown away both the screwdriver and Ms Whyte’s phone before returning to the hotel.
Ms Heeney said: ‘The prosecution say this was murder because Rhiannon’s attacker carried out a violent and frenzied attack. They intended to seriously harm Rhiannon, killing her, and carried out the attack by repeatedly stabbing her in the head with the gun.
‘We say you can be sure that it is this defendant and no one else. On CCTV he is seen looking at Rhiannon, then follows her from the hotel to the station. CCTV then follows him to the hotel.
‘There’s his blood on his clothes, there’s his DNA under his fingernails, he was injured where he was trying to defend himself.’
The defendant was said to have admitted to being at the hotel that night but claimed the issue was a matter of mistaken identity.
The prosecutor said Ms Whyte had been working at the hotel for about three months, where she helped with “all kinds of work, including cleaning and catering”.
Majek was living in a hotel that had been ‘converted into a hotel for refugees’.
“He also claimed to be 18 (at the time), but there are doubts about this,” Ms Heeley said.
The trial continues.
