Victim
Rhiannon Skye Whyte. Mother of one boy, member of a large family. Worked at the asylum hotel where her murderer was staying.
Perp
Deng Chol Majek, aged 27, a Sudanese national claiming asylum while languishing in a Walsall asylum hotel at the tax-payers expense. Majek is believed to have entered the UK by small boat less than three months before the attack.
Crime
Majek stabbed Rhiannon Whyte 23 times with a screwdriver in a frenzied 90-second attack in 2024 after following the 27-year-old to Bescot Stadium railway station in Walsall. Majek, who is about 10 inches taller than Ms Whyte, walked to the Caldmore Green area of Walsall after the attack to buy beer and was recorded apparently wiping blood from his trousers. He returned to the hotel at 12.13am, changed his bloodstained flip-flops for trainers, and was seen laughing and dancing.
Ms Whyte, 27, died three days after the attack, having been found by the driver and guard of a train which pulled in about five minutes later.
Outcome
Majek showed no emotion as Ms Whyte's sister addressed him directly, referring to footage showing him partying and dancing hours later. "You brutalised Rhiannon and then partied as if nothing had happened," she said.
Ms Whyte's mother Donna also gave a statement in court, telling Majek "let me see you dancing now".
A court heard Majek, who is from Sudan and claimed to be 19 years old, had previously been reported to hotel security after "spookily" staring at three female staff for prolonged periods.
High Court judge Michael Soole said: "You have provided the court with no explanation for your conduct, nor any reliable basis to consider any suggested mitigating factors. I see no basis for this statutory mitigating factor which arises where the intent was to cause serious bodily harm rather than to kill. Having regard to every aspect of your conduct, before, during and after the assault on Rhiannon, I am sure that your intent was to kill."
Justice Soole concluded Majek was actually aged between 25 and 28 based on a date of birth provided as part of a German asylum application, despite his claim to have been 18 at the time of the murder. "I therefore sentence you on the basis that you were aged 26 at the date of Rhiannon's murder," he said. "For the offence of murder, the law imposes a sentence of imprisonment for life."
Carla Harris, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Rhiannon Whyte should have been able to go to work and come home safely - but Deng Chol Majek robbed her of her life and future. He attacked her for no reason, and callously left her bleeding on a station platform. He then appeared to rejoice in his actions, having been caught laughing and dancing on footage an hour later. Although the stabbing itself was not captured on CCTV, the prosecution case against Chol Majek included DNA evidence, witness testimony and CCTV showing him stalking Rhiannon to the station and returning to the hotel in his distinctive bloodied clothing."
Ms Whyte's family members arrived at Coventry Crown Court wearing white t-shirts with her picture on them, while groups of people waved England flags outside the building.
Majek was originally found guilty in October of murdering the mother of a six-year-old son, and police at the time said he had shown no remorse. The jury deliberated for two hours and five minutes before unanimously convicting him of murder and possessing a screwdriver as an offensive weapon.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said "Crimes like this are the consequence of mass illegal immigration."
The family of Rhiannon Whyte described Deng Chol Majek as "demonic and inhuman" in a statement to the court, after he stabbed her 23 times with a screwdriver in a frenzied attack.
Siobhan Whyte, Rhiannon's Mother has been very outspoken about the number of asylum seekers being imported into the UK which has meant she is shunned by the media and the government. At one protest she was physically knocked to the ground by an over zealous police officer, which sparked even more debate online over two-tier policing. Then Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, turned his back on her and refused a personal meeting due to her attitude towards asylum seekers who murder British Nationals.