Summary

  • Rhiannon Whyte was found stabbed on a platform at Bescot Stadium railway station in Walsall in October 2024

  • She died three days later in hospital

  • The 27-year-old worked at a hotel where asylum seekers were staying

  • Sudanese national Deng Majek, who claims to be 19, denies murder and possession of an offensive weapon

  • The defence dispute the identity of an individual captured on CCTV following Ms Whyte and dropping her mobile phone into the River Tame

  • Mr Majek said he never went to the railway station on the night she died, saying he was outside the hotel having a smoke

  • The defendant also says that on the evening of the attack he was chilling and dancing with friends in the hotel car park

Live Reporting

Edited by David Schaffer, written by Chloe Hughes and Andy Giddings

  1. Jury shown footage of man buying beer from shop

    A man in a grey top in a shop with rows of goods on both sidesPA Media/CPS

    The footage shown to the court continues with images of a man in a grey top buying beer from a shop.

    Mr Majek has previously denied to the court that it is him.

    Previously in the trial he said he had gone to a different shop to buy beer, earlier in the evening and before it got dark.

    In referring to that account, Ms Heeley has asked the defendant where that shop was.

    He said he could not give directions.

    "What time did you go to the shop to buy beer?," Ms Heeley asked.

    "I cant remember the exact time," Mr Majek replied.

  2. 'It's you Mr Majek, just admit it to the jury'

    A man with dark hair and a light grey top on a brown paved surfacePA Media/CPS

    Next, the court has been shown CCTV footage of a man walking down a street on the night of Ms Whyte's attack.

    Ms Heeley pointed out the similarity of the clothes the figure was wearing to those Mr Majek had been wearing earlier, outside the hotel.

    That, she continued, included the detailing on the bag the man was carrying and a white headphone in one ear.

    Footage of a man in the same clothing entering a shop was then shown.

    "I'm not the only person that owns that jacket," Mr Majek said.

    Ms Heeley suggested to him the man had the same hair cut too.

    "It's you Mr Majek," she said "Just admit it to the jury."

    Again, the defendant denied this.

  3. CCTV shows figure leaving train station

    A grey figure at the top of a flight of stairsPA Media/CPS

    After a short court adjournment, Ms Heeley has resumed her questioning, turning to events after Ms Whyte was fatally injured.

    She showed the court footage of a person leaving the platform at Bescot Stadium train station.

    "That figure, I suggest, is wearing a jacket identical to yours," she said, before pointing out the figure's man bag, black cargo trousers and flip flops.

    She also pointed to an illuminated object in the figure's left hand, which she said was Ms Whyte's phone.

    "That's not me," Mr Majek repeated.

  4. The injuries suffered by Ms Whyte

    Prosecution barrister Michelle Heeley KC previously told the court Ms Whyte was seen slumped on the station platform when a train pulled in at 23:24, on 20 October 2024.

    A guard on the train and another employee from the hotel went to help her and she was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, but later died of her injuries, having never regained consciousness.

    Two white police vans with blue and yellow squares on the side at the entrance to a train station with a row of yellow poles on either side

    Police officers sealed off Bescot Stadium station after Rhiannon Whyte's death

    The court was told 11 of the 23 stab wounds penetrated her skull, one of which damaged the brain stem, causing her eventual death.

    She had also suffered injuries to her chest and arm, indicating she had tried to defend herself, the court heard.

  5. 'You were the person who stabbed her, weren't you?'

    Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC has reached the end of this section of her cross examination.

    In her conclusions, she said: "Mr Majek, I'm going to suggest her attacker is the person that caused her to bleed," she said.

    "I don't know that person," the defendant responded.

    "I suggest that her blood was found on several items of your clothing," Ms Heeley continued.

    "No, it wasn't me and my items did not have blood on them," he countered.

    Ms Heeley then asked: "You were the person that stabbed her, weren't you?"

    "No, it wasn't me," he said.

    "Several times to the skull," she continued.

    "It wasn't me," Mr Majek repeated.

    "You intended to kill her," Ms Heeley then stated.

    "It wasn't me," the defendant replied.

    "And then you stole her phone and threw it in the river," Ms Heeley concluded.

    Again, Mr Majek replied: "It wasn't me."

  6. 'This is the figure who is about to murder Rhiannon Whyte'

    A figure in a grey top on steps leading upwards at Bescot Stadium stationPA Media

    Now we have been shown CCTV images from the Bescot Stadium station of a figure walking up a flight of stairs to a bridge over the railway line.

    "This is the figure that is about to murder Rhiannon Whyte walking up the stairs," Ms Heeley has told the jury.

    She describes the clothing the man is seen wearing, including a black man bag and rings on his fingers.

    She asked if he had been concealing a screwdriver up his sleeve at this stage.

    "That's not me," Mr Majek repeated.

  7. Questions about man seen at train station

    Next, the jury is being shown images of Ms Whyte walking across the car park at Bescot Stadium train station.

    This is followed by an image of a man walking in the same direction shortly afterwards.

    "Do you agree that figure is wearing an identical jacket to the one found in your room?," Ms Heeley asked.

    "It's not me." he replied.

    "Do you agree the person in the picture is wearing flip-flops?," she asked.

    "What about the man bag?"

    "Black cargo trousers?"

    "I don't know this person and this is not me," Mr Majek replied.

  8. Denials over man seen in CCTV images

    Ms Heeley has now moved on to questions about CCTV images showing a man the prosecution claim is Mr Majek leaving the hotel and walking in the direction of Walsall's football stadium.

    "We followed you up and past the football stadium," she said.

    "I don't know this person," Mr Majek replied

    "It's you Mr Majek," Ms Heeley insisted.

    He again denied this.

  9. 'You were making her feel uncomfortable'

    An image of a woman with blue hair behind a bar with chairs and a man in a grey top in the backgroundPA Media/CPS

    The court has also been shown images of Ms Whyte pointing at the seat where Mr Majek had been sat, to show a security guard.

    Ms Heeley has asked the defendant to confirm he had been staring at female members of staff behind the bar.

    "You are looking directly at them weren't you?," she said.

    Again, Mr Majek denied this.

    Ms Heeley then showed an image of Ms Whyte reaching for what she told the court was a rape alarm.

    The prosecutor said he had been "making her uncomfortable" and said he had deliberately walked at them as he went outside the hotel for a cigarette.

    Mr Majek denied this and denied he had interacted with Ms Whyte.

  10. Questions about hotel CCTV images

    The questioning has now moved on to 20 October last year - the day Rhiannon Whyte was fatally injured.

    The court was shown images of him in the dining area of the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall, where he was staying.

    Ms Heeley asked him if he was looking in the direction of Ms Whyte, who was also in the dining area at the time.

    "No," Mr Majek said.

    "You were staring at the female hotel workers, weren't you?," Ms Heeley said.

    Mr Majek denied that he was.

  11. Mr Majek asked about his age

    There have been queries about the age of Deng Majek in this case.

    He claims to be 19, but ID documents he had with him in Germany suggested he was 27.

    He has said that was based on a mistaken belief that his date of birth was 1 January 1998.

    Under cross examination, he told Ms Heeley the mistake came about when he took a boat from Libya to Italy on his way to the UK.

    "I got saved from the sea by Italian authorities and they were talking to me when they saved me and they were processing my information," he said.

    "I wasn't provided with an interpreter."

  12. 'I don't speak any English'

    Ms Heeley has started by asking Deng Majek about his journey to the UK after leaving his home in Sudan.

    She also asked how good his English was.

    Responding through his interpreter, he said: "I don't speak any English."

  13. Case resumes

    The cross-examination of the defendant, led by prosecution barrister Michelle Heeley KC, has resumed.

  14. Defendant challenged over blood and CCTV evidence

    At the end of yesterday's proceedings prosecution barrister Michelle Heeley KC started her cross examination of Mr Majek.

    She challenged him over the evidence from forensic scientist Elizabeth Simpson, who said she found Ms Whyte's blood on the defendant's jacket, trousers, flip-flops and one of his rings.

    Ms Heeley asked him how it got there and he replied: "I don't know why, because I'm sure my stuff had no blood on it."

    He was also asked to look the jury in the eye and tell them the images of a man seen in CCTV footage that night were not him.

    Mr Majek turned to the jury and said: "That's not me."

  15. A brief recap of the case

    A drawing of a man with dark hair and a grey top with a microphone and a laptop in front of him and a judge in a white wig and red gown in the backgroundElizabeth Cook/PA Wire

    The trial is continuing of a man accused of murdering 27-year-old hotel worker Rhiannon Whyte in October last year.

    Deng Majek denies killing Ms Whyte, who died in hospital after being stabbed 23 times at Walsall's Bescot Stadium railway station, with what police believe was a screwdriver.

    Mr Majek, who has told the court he is aged 19, is an asylum seeker from Sudan who was housed at the Park Inn Hotel, in Walsall, where Ms Whyte worked.

    Yesterday at Wolverhampton Crown Court, he repeatedly denied having any contact with her and said he did not leave the hotel after she finished work to follow her to the train station.

    He said CCTV images of a man shown on the overbridge at Bescot station did not feature him.

  16. Murder-accused Deng Majek's cross-examination to resume

    The trial of an asylum seeker accused of murdering hotel worker Rhiannon Whyte resumes this morning.

    Prosecuting barrister Michelle Heeley KC is due to resume her cross-examination of defendant Deng Majek,

    We'll bring you all the updates as they happen.

  17. End of Tuesday's coverage

    We've reached the end of today's coverage from the trial of Deng Majek. Thanks for joining us.

    We'll return tomorrow as the prosecution continues its cross-examination of the defendant.

  18. A summary of today's evidence

    Today, we have been hearing from the defendant Deng Majek, who denies Rhiannon Whyte's murder at Bescot Stadium railway station, near Walsall.

    Mr Majek started by telling the court he was 19 years old and had left home in Sudan at the age of 16, arriving in the UK and the Park Inn hotel in July 2024, to wait while his asylum claim was processed.

    His defence barrister, Gurdeep Garcha KC, then moved on to questions about his relationship with the victim, Ms Whyte, who worked at the hotel.

    Mr Majek told the court he had never met her and had never spoken to her.

    CCTV image of a figure on Bescot Stadium bridgeBritish Transport Police

    A lot of Mr Garcha's questions then focused on CCTV images, which the prosecution have said show the defendant following her to the train station, where she was attacked.

    In response, Mr Majek said images of the man seen following her were not him.

    Mr Majek did agree the man seen dancing to music at the hotel later was him, but said he did not know at the time Ms Whyte had been attacked.

    He was asked about the evidence from forensic scientist Elizabeth Simpson, who said her blood was found on his clothes and that her DNA was under his fingernails.

    "She's wrong," he told the court.

    A jacket that is an evidence exhibit in the caseBTP

    Before the court adjourned for the day, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC began her cross-examination of the defendant.

    Ms Heeley first asked Mr Majek about blood found on a jacket taken from his room, asking him how it had got on the garment, which he denied.

    "My jacket had no blood on it," he said.

    Finally, Ms Heeley presented Mr Majek with a CCTV image of a man, asking him to "look the jury in the eye and tell them it's not you".He then faced the jury and said: "That's not me."

  19. 'Look this jury in the eye', prosecutor asks defendant

    A man with dark hair and a grey jacket with light arms on a brown paved area with two black bollardsCPS

    We've reached the end of today's evidence in court and Ms Heeley concluded by reminding Mr Majek of the CCTV images showing a man wearing the same clothes he wore.

    The prosecution say a man was seen following Ms Whyte to the station, before leaving it and stopping at a shop afterwards.

    "Look this jury in the eye and tell them that’s not you," Ms Heeley said.

    Mr Majek then faced the jury and said: "That’s not me."

    Returning to the subject of the blood and DNA evidence, presented by scientist Elizabeth Simpson, Ms Heeley asked Mr Majek: "Ms Simpson is not lying about the forensics, is she?"

    Mr Majek replied: "She’s wrong."

    "Why is an independent forensic scientist wrong?," Ms Heeley asked him.

    "I don’t know why, because I’m sure my stuff had no blood on it," he replied.

    Ms Heeley then asked: "How was Rhiannon’s blood under your right hand fingernail. It was there because you attacked Rhiannon Whyte, didn’t you?"

    "No," Mr Majek responded.

  20. 'My jacket didn't have any blood on it'

    The jacket that is an evidence exhibit in the caseBritish Transport Police

    Ms Heeley has now referred to the evidence from a forensic scientist about blood found on the clothing taken from his room.

    "Tell this jury how Rhiannon Whyte's blood got on your jacket," she said.

    Mr Majek replied: "My jacket didn’t have any blood on it."

    "Your jacket did have blood on it Mr Majek, tell the jury how it got there."

    "My jacket had no blood on it." He said.