Rhiannon Whyte was found fatally stabbed on a platform at Bescot Stadium railway station in Walsall in October 2024
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 also disputes being the man captured on CCTV in the evening buying beer
He said he never went to the railway station on the night she died, saying he was outside the hotel having a smoke before dancing with friends in the car park
The defendant also denied staring at Ms Whyte earlier in the evening or intentionally bumping into her and colleagues
That's all from our live reporting on defendant Deng Majek's evidence in the Rhiannon Whyte murder trial.
Thanks for joining us. The jury will return tomorrow and you can read the latest from today's proceedings here.
Chloe Hughes
BBC News
Mr Majek continued to deny that he was the man captured on CCTV footage around the railway station or buying beer in a shop.
During cross-examination, prosecution barrister Michelle Heeley KC focused on the clothes and footwear worn by the man pictured, saying they were identical to those worn by the defendant at the time.
Mr Majek denied that he was the person pictured in the footage shown to the jury from those locations.
He also said a man shown walking into the reception area of the hotel that night was not him, and that he was sitting outside.
Ms Heeley asked Mr Majek why Ms Whyte's DNA had been found under his right fingernail.
The defendant said he did not touch Ms Whyte and there was no DNA.
Later, he maintained that he did not conceal a screwdriver, follow Ms Whyte and attack her.
Cross-examination finished, and the defence case was then formally closed before the jury.
Chloe Hughes
BBC News
Image source, Elizabeth Cook/PAThe cross-examination of the defendant, led by prosecution barrister Michelle Heeley KC resumed this morning.
Much of the questioning was about 20 October last year - the day Rhiannon Whyte was fatally injured.
Mr Majek denied staring at female workers in the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall, where he was staying, and also denied deliberately walking at them as he went outside the hotel for a cigarette, and said he did not interact with Ms Whyte.
Image source, BTPWhen played CCTV images showing a man the prosecution claimed was Mr Majek at various locations that night, the defendant repeatedly denied that it was him.
The images included a man leaving the hotel and walking in the direction of Walsall's football stadium, and footage of a man walking across the car park at Bescot Stadium railway station, shortly after Ms Whyte.
Ms Heeley suggested that a figure in the footage leaving the platform at Bescot Stadium train station after Ms Whyte was fatally injured was wearing the same clothes as he had been - Mr Majek denied it was him.
He also denied stabbing Ms Whyte and said his items did not have blood on them.
The defence has formally closed its case.
The jury will return to court tomorrow.
Ms Heeley asked Mr Majek why he did not speak when he was questioned by police.
The defendant said he did not answer because he was told by his solicitor that he would "go to prison" and should remain silent.
"I suggest you remained silent because you had no answer," said Ms Heeley.
"I suggest you hid a screwdriver that night about your person."
"That wasn’t me," Mr Majek said.
"And you followed Rhiannon to the station," Ms Heeley continued.
"That wasn’t me," Mr Majek repeated.
"And then you brutally attacked her."
"No, it wasn’t me," he said.
Moving on to DNA evidence, Ms Heeley asks Mr Majek: "Tell this jury why her [Rhiannon's] DNA was under your right fingernail."
"I never touched her, and there is no DNA," the defendant replied.
"There is DNA because she tried to fight you off, didn’t she?," Ms Heeley asked.
"I don’t accept what you’re saying to me. I didn’t fight her off and I didn’t do anything," Mr Majek replied.
Chloe Hughes
BBC News
Footage is then shown of a person walking from the shop, and picked up again walking along the side of the hotel.
“That person has a black man bag on their side, a hood up, and they are about to walk along the side of the hotel and into the reception area," said Ms Heeley.
The person is then seen going into the hotel towards the reception.
"That’s you isn't it? And you are wearing, I would suggest, identical clothes to the person we’ve just seen in the shot," she continued.
"The person in the shot is not me," Mr Majek replied.
Ms Heeley has also referenced a black plastic bag the person in the footage was holding.
"What are you holding in your left hand please, Mr Majek?," she asked.
“I’m not sure, usually when I go and buy things I use a plastic bag," he said.
“I can see it’s a plastic bag but I don’t know what’s in it."
“Where had you been?," Ms Heeley asked.
“I was sitting outside, I don’t know why your picture is showing that, I wasn’t there," said Mr Majek.
He said he did not know what date or time the footage was taken.
Ms Heeley replied: "It had been just under an hour since Rhiannon Whyte had been murdered."
Image source, BTPThe 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.
Image source, BTPNext, 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.
Image source, BTPAfter 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.
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.
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.
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."
Image source, BTPNow 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.
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.
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.
Image source, BTPThe 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.
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.
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."
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."
The cross-examination of the defendant, led by prosecution barrister Michelle Heeley KC, has resumed.