Majek denies killing the 27-year-old and instead has said the case is one of misidentification
Deng Chol Majek in a store on Caldmore Green after the attack.
Jurors in the case of a murder-accused asylum seeker alleged to have stabbed a mum to death at a deserted train station have begun their deliberations.
Deng Chol Majek plunged a screwdriver 23 times into the head and body of Rhiannon Skye Whyte as she made her way home from work, prosecutors say.
He was living at the Park Inn, in Walsall, when he is said to have ‘tracked’ Ms Whyte as she left the hotel and walked to Bescot train station before carrying out his ‘frenzied’ attack.
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The Sudanese national’s clothes had the migrant hotel worker’s blood on them, while her DNA was found under his fingernails – both of which he disputes.
Majek denies killing the 27-year-old and instead has said the case is one of misidentification.
During the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, jurors heard how Ms Whyte finished work at 11pm on October 20 last year.
She made her way to the station on foot, during which time Majek is said to have ‘followed’ her.
Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC previously said: “He had been hanging around waiting for her to leave and he waited until she was on her own before he followed her.”
Ms Whyte called her childhood friend at 11.04pm and was filmed on CCTV walking to the station at 11.08pm.
Just two minutes later, Majek is said to have been seen on the CCTV trailing behind Ms Whyte.
Ms Heeley said: “She entered the train car park and 90 seconds later the defendant followed her.
“She then walked over the bridge, the defendant had closed the gap and by now was just 30 seconds behind her.
“She reached the platform at 11.13pm – no one else was on the platform.
“It was then that the prosecution say this defendant attacked her.
“Ms Whyte had been talking to her friend, it went silent.
“Her friend heard a scream, then another scream and the phone went dead at 11.19pm.
“Shortly after, this defendant could be seen running back up the stairs from the platform, he had an object lit up in his hand – that was Ms Whyte’s mobile phone.”
The train that Ms Whyte had been due to catch pulled in at 11.24pm, with staff finding the mum’s bloodied body.
Prosecutors say Majek dumped Ms Whyte’s mobile into the River Tame before going to a local shop to buy beers, arriving back at the Park Inn at 12.13am.
Once at the hotel, he was seen ‘dancing and laughing, clearly excited about what he had done’, Ms Heeley added.
Majek took to the witness box during his trial, swearing his oath on the Bible before telling jurors he came to the UK in July 2024.
He said he left his native Sudan at the age of 16, leaving behind his wife, daughter, parents, seven sisters and three brothers.
The defendant travelled to Libya, Italy and Germany before claiming asylum in the UK and being housed at the Park Inn hotel.
Sudan was ‘dangerous’ and he was ‘threatened’ by an Army official who wanted to marry his sister but was refused, Majek claimed.
His asylum claim was refused by the German authorities, the court heard.
Footage from CCTV is said to have captured Majek ‘hanging around’ the hotel reception area and ‘staring’ at Ms Whyte in the hours before the attack.
He was wearing a ‘distinctive’ jacket and brown sandals that day, the prosecution say.
But Majek claims he is not the man seen in CCTV footage wearing what the Crown say is ‘identical’ clothing to his.
Majek, of Bescot Crescent, Walsall, denies murdering Ms Whyte on October 23, 2024, and having an offensive weapon – a screwdriver – in a public place on October 20, 2024.
He insists he was born in 2001 and is 19 – but the prosecution say there are ‘doubts’ over his age and he could be 27.
The defendant claims to speak no English and was assisted in court by an Arabic interpreter, speaking Sudanese dialect, throughout his trial.
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