Asylum seeker Deng Majek is sentenced to a minimum term of 29 years in prison for murdering hotel worker Rhiannon Whyte
Whyte died on 23 October 2024, three days after Majek stabbed her 23 times with a screwdriver at a train station in Walsall, West Midlands
Delivering the sentence, Mr Justice Soole says the attack "involved a significant degree of pre-meditation" and a "particularly vicious brutality"
He says Majek is aged between 25 and 28, following an earlier claim from the defendant he was only 19
Majek, a Sudanese national who arrived in the UK on a small boat less than three months before the attack, was living at the hotel where Whyte worked
In witness impact statements before the sentencing, Whyte's mother called her daughter "my best friend", while her sister said she was "the best of us"
Warning: This live page contains distressing details
Moment asylum seeker arrested over death of Rhiannon Whyte
This is the moment that police arrested Deng Majek on suspicion of attempted murder, a few hours after Rhiannon Whyte was attacked.
Whyte died three days later in hospital, so the charge was then upgraded to murder.
Majek was arrested inside the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall, where he was living and Whyte had been working.
“Although nothing can bring Rhiannon back, I hope these convictions provide some sense of justice to her family and friends," said Carla Harris from the Crown Prosecution Service, reacting to the sentencing.
Image source, PA Media“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," she said in a statement.
Although the stabbing itself was not captured on CCTV, she said the prosecution case against 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".
"He was also the only person to enter and leave the platform during the time of the attack," Harris added.
"All of this allowed the jury to convict him of his crimes."
During his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Soole told Majek that in his judgement his age and level of maturity provided "no level for mitigation".
Image source, PA MediaHe told him there had been a "chilling composure in every aspect of your behaviour".
Majek's defence team had referred to him as having no previous convictions, a medical issue and limits on his command of the English language.
However, the judge said: "I have no doubt your English is better than you suggest. There are no mitigating factors."
James Bovill
at Coventry Crown Court
"No words of mine can provide comfort to you," Mr Justice Soole said, addressing the family.
"No words can begin to meet the suffering you go through and your terrible loss.
"I express my profound sympathy. I do want to again say how I also so greatly admire the calm dignity of you all throughout the trial."
Whyte's mother wiped a tear as the judge wished them the best.
As he handed down the sentence, the judge told Majek to stand.
"The sentence for murder is imprisonment for life," the judge said.
The sentence takes into account the time served in prison already, which means Majek will be jailed for 27 years and 264 days.
Deng Majek has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 29 years for the murder of Rhiannon Whyte.
Majek had provided minimal assistance to the court, says Mr Justice Soole.
"You continued to deny that you were Rhiannon's assailant," he says.
He had also provided a limited account of his life in Sudan before his departure, and was unwilling to discuss his past medical history.
"You have refused to answer questions, including those about events in Sudan," he adds.
Mr Justice Soole is now outlining aggravating factors of the case.
The first is that on the evening of the murder, the "offence involved a significant degree of pre-meditation".
He says that for substantial parts of the evening Whyte was murdered, Majek had been in the communal parts of the hotel and was staring at Whyte.
At the time of her shift end, he went outside to the main entrance and followed her to the station platform "armed with your weapon".
Secondly, he references the "particularly vicious brutality" of the murder.
Thirdly, its "commission against a woman alone, late at night, in a public place".
The final aggravating factor from the judge is the disposal of evidence with intent of escaping detection.
Turning now to the sentencing guidelines, Mr Justice Soole outlines the role of the Parole Board and explains the licensing conditions which will be imposed on Majek for the rest of his life.
"You brought a weapon to the scene and used it in the murder," the judge says - referencing the screwdriver.
"I am sure you brought it to the scene with the intent to murder Rhiannon."
He believes the minimum term starts at 25 years as he continues to outline other aggravating factors.
One of the disputed facts during the course of Majek's trial was his age.
Majek claimed to have been born around January 2006 and thus would have been 18 at the time of the murder, Mr Justice Soole tells the court.
However, in the course of his journey from Sudan to the UK, he passed through Germany, with his identification papers claiming he was born in January 1998.
Ahead of sentencing, Mr Justice Soole ordered an age assessment report which confirmed Majek was over the age of 21.
Addressing Majek, the judge says he believed him to be between 25 and 28 years old and assumed that he was born in 1998, as the German documents attested.
Mr Justice Soole says the DNA and CCTV evidence against Majek was "overwhelming", yet he had continued to deny any involvement in her death.
"You continued to deny you were the assailant," he adds.
Whyte and her colleagues were "serving and helping you as residents," he says.
Mr Justice Soole is addressing Majek. He says Whyte tried to defend herself "with the greatest courage" against Majek's "frenzied and sustained brutality".
He outlines the case, including that after the attack, Majek took Whyte's phone and turned it off, walking calmly away. He threw her mobile into the river, the court hears.
Majek then took a long walk around Walsall and bought beer, the judge explains. CCTV shows him dancing and laughing in the car park.
The judge says Rhiannon Whyte was found by the crew of the train she was due to take, and emergency services came to the scene quickly.
She died in hospital three days later "despite every best effort".
Mr Justice Soole is now delivering his sentence for Deng Majek at Coventry Crown Court.
You can follow along on our stream by clicking watch live at the top of this page. We'll also bring you the remarks right here.
As a reminder, this page contains details some readers might find distressing.
This is what we know happened on the day of Rhiannon Whyte's murder.
Image source, BTP
Image source, BTPDeng Majek is a Sudanese asylum seeker who was living at the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall at the time of Rhiannon Whyte's death.
The court heard that he was from a large family, with seven sisters and three brothers and did not go to school or have any formal education.
The jury was also told he had a daughter in Sudan, who he left behind when he left the country.
Majek told his trial in October that he left Sudan, fleeing war, and travelled through Libya, Italy and then Germany.
The jury heard Majek had travelled to the UK on a small boat, arriving on 29 July 2024.
On documents in Germany, his date of birth was recorded as 1 January 1998, which would make him 27 now, but he told the court that was a mistake due to confusion when he was processed in Italy and claimed he was instead 19.
Tests conducted since the trial have confirmed him to be over 21.
James Bovill
at Coventry Crown Court
Majek has now been taken from the court, as the judge orders a break in proceedings ahead of his sentencing remarks.
He said the family had shown "exemplary dignity" throughout the case.
Alexandra Whyte also said she now had the responsibility of raising her sister's son.
Image source, Family handoutCalling him Rhiannon's "beautiful young boy", she said it was "unimaginably difficult and painful" having to explain to him that his mother had died.
"Telling someone with no concept of the type of cruelty which has taken his mother that she is never coming home was heartbreaking," she said.
"It is no exaggeration to say that his screams will haunt me forever."
Addressing Majek, she said: "You will always... be the monster that stole his mother."
She added that Rhiannon’s son wanted to be a “brain doctor” so he could save people, the way his mother couldn’t be.
The court has also heard a victim impact statement written by Rhiannon Whyte's sister, Alexandra Whyte.
Image source, Family handoutAlexandra Whyte said she was making it on behalf of her and her “broken-hearted” siblings, Rhiannon’s nieces and nephews, and her six-year-old son.
Describing her sister, Alexandra Whyte said: “We are all acutely aware of her beautiful nature.
“She was smart, kind, funny, thoughtful, caring, hardworking and most importantly she belonged to us.
“She was a piece of us all of us and the best of us.”
She added: “Being alive to this only makes it harder to comprehend and accept that her bright future has been stolen from her and all of us so brutally.”
Ahead of sentencing, the judge Mr Justice Soole ordered an age assessment report, and it has now been confirmed he is aged over 21.
It is because during the trial Majek claimed he was aged 19, but prosecutors said they believed him to be in his mid 20s.
Prosecution barrister Michelle Heeley KC confirmed his age in court.
James Bovill
at Coventry Crown Court
Donna Whyte continues: "To some extent my life also ended that day.
"She had no chance, no say in how her life would be decided. You took that from all of us."
Looking directly at Majek, with her hands shaking, she added: "I hope you never see the outside world again. Let me see you dancing now."
Majek showed no emotion as the statement was relayed to him by an interpreter.
