An asylum seeker was reportedly seen ‘laughing and dancing’ in celebration after brutally stabbing a UK woman working at the migrant hotel he was residing in, a court has been informed.
The accused, Deng Chol Majek, a Sudanese national who asserts he is 19, is claimed to have executed a ‘frenzied assault’ on Rhiannon Whyte as she made her way home from her job at the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall.
Majek is said to have trailed the 27-year-old to a deserted platform at Bescott station, where he attacked her with a screwdriver, stabbing her 23 times as she awaited a late train on October 20 of the previous year.
Ms. Whyte had been conversing with a friend on the phone when her cries were heard during the attack at 11.13pm, with the connection abruptly cutting off following the violent episode.
Eleven minutes later, a train driver discovered her collapsed on the platform, yet her injuries were grave, and she succumbed, surrounded by her family, on October 23.
While opening the prosecution at Wolverhampton Crown Court today, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC stated: ‘He left her to perish from her wounds and nonchalantly returned to his hotel.’
Majek denies murdering Ms Whyte and a second charge of possessing a screwdriver in a public place.
Ms Heeley told the jury the defendant’s movements that night were captured on CCTV, a compilation of which was played to the court today.
Ms Whyte’s family, who were sitting in the public gallery, wiped away tears as they watched the footage.
The prosecutor said the relevant footage started in the hotel reception where Majek was seen ‘staring at Rhiannon throughout the evening’.
‘No one could recall any particular issue that would have caused him to act in that way,’ she said.
Rhiannon Skye Whyte, 27, was attacked moments after leaving work and died in hospital with her family by her side
Police outside the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Bescot, Walsall – where Ms Whyte worked -in the aftermath of the attack
‘There had been an issue about some broken biscuits with some of the residents 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.
By the time she walked over a bridge separating the platforms, this gap had closed to just 30 seconds, Ms Heeley said. She was alone when she reached the platform.
‘It was then that the prosecution say this defendant attacked her,’ Ms Heeley said.
‘Rhiannon had been talking to her friend, Emma. It then went silent and Emma heard a scream, then another scream and the phone went dead at 11.19pm.’
The defendant was allegedly then seen on CCTV running back up the stairs from the platform holding an object lit up in his hand, which the prosecution said was Ms Whyte’s phone.
Ms Heeley continued: ‘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 12.13am.
‘In between the station and the hotel he had thrown Rhiannon’s phone into a river, police later recovered it.
‘Once at the hotel he was seen dancing and laughing, clearly excited about what he had done.’
Ms Whyte was stabbed 23 times, including 11 stab wounds which penetrated her skull – one of which damaged her brain steam and ultimately caused her death.
Police were ‘very quickly’ able to trace the defendant because he was wearing ‘very distinctive clothing’ and made an arrest shortly afterwards at the hotel, Ms Heeley said.
They found him in possession of clothes including the jacket the attacker from the CCTV could be seen wearing, as well as jewellery and a pair of sandals, all of which were found to have Ms Whyte’s blood on them, the court heard.
Ms Whyte’s DNA was found underneath the fingernails of the defendant, the jury were told. He is alleged to have disposed of both the screwdriver and Ms Whyte’s phone before returning to the hotel.
The defendant was said to accept he was at the hotel that night, but claims the issue is one of misidentification.
The prosecutor said that Ms Whyte had worked at the hotel for around three months, where she helped ‘with all manner of things including cleaning and serving food’.
Majek lived at the hotel, which had ‘been turned into a hotel for asylum seekers’.
‘He also claimed to be 18 (at the time), but there are doubts about that,’ Ms Heeley said.
The trial continues.
