A jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court has convicted Deng Chol Majek, an asylum seeker from Sudan, of murdering 27-year-old hotel worker Rhiannon Skye Whyte after following her from the Park Inn hotel in Walsall to the nearby Bescot Stadium railway station. The attack took place on 20 October 2024; Whyte died in hospital three days later.
Prosecutors told the court Majek followed Whyte from the hotel where she worked to the station and attacked her with a screwdriver, inflicting multiple stab wounds — reported as 23 in total, including numerous blows to the head. CCTV and forensic evidence presented at trial linked Majek to the killing: police said CCTV captured him following Whyte and later discarding a bright object into a river (the prosecution say it was her phone), while DNA beneath Majek’s fingernails and blood on his clothing and possessions corroborated the case. Jurors delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after just over two hours of deliberation.
News outlets reported that Majek has consistently disputed some details of his identity and age, claiming to be 19 while investigators and the prosecution say evidence points to an older age; the court has postponed sentencing until his true age can be established. Witnesses at the hotel described seeing Majek watching or following Whyte during her shift on the night of the attack, and footage shown in court also captured his behaviour at the hotel after the incident.
Rhiannon Whyte’s family expressed their devastation at the verdict and the loss of a mother to a young son; the Crown Prosecution Service said it would continue to pursue justice in serious violent cases. The conviction has also prompted renewed media attention on safety at hotels used to house asylum seekers and on wider public debates about migration and accommodation — debates the CPS and police have urged should not overshadow the facts of this particular crime and the evidence brought at trial.
Majek will return to court for sentencing once the court is satisfied about his age. Police and local authorities have said inquiries into the case remain ongoing, and investigators thanked members of the public who came forward with information during the probe.
English