Hotel worker stabbed 23 times by asylum seeker at station, murder trial told

An asylum seeker was seen dancing and laughing after stabbing a hotel worker more than 20 times on a railway station platform and leaving her for dead, a murder trial jury has heard.

Deng Chol Majek was “clearly excited about what he had done” after inflicting a total of 23 stab wounds on Rhiannon Skye Whyte, mainly to her head, at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium station, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Jurors heard on Tuesday how Majek, who is from Sudan and claims to be 19, was caught on CCTV as he followed Ms Whyte from the town’s Park Inn hotel, then being used to house asylum seekers, on October 20 last year.

Ms Whyte, whose shift had finished at 11pm, was heard screaming during a phone call to a friend and was found by a train guard on the platform minutes later, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC told the court.

Opening the Crown’s case against Majek, Ms Heeley told the court he followed the 27-year-old from the hotel where he was living.

Ms Heeley said: “He followed her down on to the train platform at the Bescot Stadium station and then he attacked her. Stabbing her over and over again with a screwdriver.

“He left her bleeding to death and then casually went back to his hotel. We say you can be sure he is guilty of murder.”

Jurors were told that Ms Whyte had worked at the hotel for about three months, helping with things including cleaning and serving food, while the defendant was resident in room 309.

Ms Heeley added: “During the evening one of Rhiannon’s co-workers noticed this defendant. He seemed to be staring at Rhiannon and the women she was working with.

“No one could recall any particular issue that would have caused him to act in that way. There had been an issue about some broken biscuits with some of the residents but nothing serious.

“What is clear from the CCTV is that the defendant was hanging around the reception area, staring at Rhiannon throughout the evening. He changed into a distinctive jacket and sandals and then waited around the reception area where Rhiannon was.

“CCTV tracks the defendant all the way. He followed her from the hotel and to the station.

“He had been hanging around waiting for her to leave and waited until she was on her own before he followed her.”

Ms Whyte called a friend at 11.04pm, the court heard, and she was caught on CCTV at 11.08pm with Majek following two minutes later.

Majek then “closed the gap” to 90 seconds and then 30 seconds as she reached the deserted platform at 11.13pm, the court heard.

Ms Heeley added: “It was then that the prosecution say that this defendant attacked her. Rhiannon had been talking to her friend.

“But it went silent before (the friend) heard a scream, then another scream. The phone went dead at 11.19pm.

“Shortly after that this defendant could be seen running back up the stairs from the platform. He had an object lit up in his hand – that was Rhiannon’s mobile phone.”

Ms Whyte’s friend, having heard screams, called the police, who contacted the hotel, who sent one of their employees to the station.

The train that Rhiannon had been due to catch pulled in at 11.24pm and the driver saw a figure slumped on the platform.

Ms Heeley continued: “The guard tried to help Rhiannon, as did the employee who had come from the hotel. But sadly she was too seriously injured and nothing could be done to save her. She passed away on October 23, having never regained consciousness.

“The defendant did not go straight back to the hotel, he went to a local shop and bought himself a drink first, arriving back in the hotel at 13 minutes past midnight.

“In between the station and the hotel he had thrown Rhiannon’s phone into a river. Once at the hotel he was seen dancing and laughing, clearly excited about what he had done.”

Majek denies murder and possessing a screwdriver as an offensive weapon. The trial continues.