Break for lunchpublished at 13:25 BST 21 October
The court has now broken for lunch and the trial will resume just after 14:00.
Summary
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
Break for lunchpublished at 13:25 BST 21 October
Reaction from victim's familypublished at 13:18 BST 21 October
Katie Thompson
BBC NewsBoth the public gallery and the press bench are full.
The family of Rhiannon are watching the defendant as he answers questions from the defence barrister.
As we hear questions about Rhiannon’s final movements and see footage of her at the hotel prior to leaving, the anger on some faces is clear to see.
Questions about ringspublished at 13:11 BST 21 October
Mr Majek has been asked some questions about his rings, which he was seen taking off a necklace chain and placing on his fingers.
He told the court: "I was feeling like I want to wear them. This is what I usually do. On my fingers, so I don’t lose them."
Mr Garcha asked him: "Any significance to the rings?"
He replied: "No I just like to keep them."
"Are they valuable?" Mr Garcha asked.
"Yes." Mr Majek replied.
The trial was earlier told that blood was found on five of the 19 rings recovered from Mr Majek by police, with a forensic scientist saying the blood on one of them matched Ms Whyte's.
Murder-accused left hotel to smokepublished at 13:00 BST 21 October
Image source, Elizabeth Cook/PA MediaMr Garcha is continuing his questioning of Mr Majek and we heard Mr Majek went outside the hotel for a while to have a smoke and he spoke to a security guard in Arabic briefly before returning to the dining area.
He is then asked why he was seen on CCTV footage leaving the hotel again at about 23:00.
Mr Majek accepted the person in the footage was him, but said he said he had no interaction with Ms Whyte or her colleague on the front desk when he left to smoke again.
"Did you know Rhiannon Whyte took the train from Bescot Stadium to get home to Walsall?" Mr Garcha asked.
"No," the defendant responded.
Mr Majek tells jury he was not staring at female hotel staffpublished at 12:37 BST 21 October
We are now turning to Mr Majek's account of the day Ms Whyte was attacked.
Responding to a question about CCTV footage showing him sitting in the dining room of the hotel, looking at his mobile phone, the defendant said he was listening to music and denied he was staring at female members staff, including Ms Whyte.
He said he usually sat at the same table.
Defendant denies witnessing disputes at hotelpublished at 12:27 BST 21 October
Mr Garcha is continuing his questioning and has asked Mr Majek if he knew about an incident at the hotel involving broken biscuits.
The barrister said someone else had been difficult with staff as a result, but Mr Majek said he knew nothing about this.
The defendant has also denied witnessing an incident in which another resident shouted at Rhiannon Whyte and threw a plate of food on the floor.
Case resumespublished at 12:19 BST 21 October
We are back and hearing from Mr Majek again.
CCTV images disputed by defencepublished at 12:14 BST 21 October
Image source, BTPGiving evidence this morning, Mr Majek has denied being the person pictured on CCTV at the station.
Last week the court was shown footage which the prosecution said showed the defendant throwing Ms Whyte's phone off a bridge soon after the attack.
Her phone was later recovered by police from the River Tame.
However, defence barrister Gurdeep Garcha said at the time the identity of the figure seen in this and other video from that night was "very much in dispute" and the quality of CCTV footage varied.
He told the court there were 20 cameras at the railway station, but only four were recording and none captured the fatal attack, nor of his client with the weapon.
Court taking a breakpublished at 12:04 BST 21 October
We're just taking a brief break now.
Mr Majek denies meeting victim at hotelpublished at 12:00 BST 21 October
Mr Majek has been asked about his relationship with Rhiannon Whyte and he has denied ever meeting her.
She had been serving in the restaurant at the Park Inn and working at the front desk, but he said he never had any contact with her and would not have been able to speak to her in English anyway.
He has also denied having contact with her by phone or social media and said he had not noticed her at the hotel.
Asked if he had any reason to harm her, he again replied "no".
Defendant denies being at railway stationpublished at 11:54 BST 21 October
The defence barrister has asked Mr Majek directly if he was at Bescot railway station when Ms Whyte was stabbed.
He said no and denied being responsible for the fatal attack.
He said he was at his hotel at the time.
Family in Sudanpublished at 11:49 BST 21 October
The court has heard Mr Majek is from a large family, with seven sisters and three brothers, and didn't go to school or have any formal education.
He has said he left Sudan for his safety, because of the war there.
The jury was also told he had a daughter in Sudan, who he left behind when he left the country.
No previous convictionspublished at 11:33 BST 21 October
Mr Majek has told the court that he has no previous convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings recorded against him.
He has also been speaking about leaving Sudan at the age of 16 and travelling through Libya, Italy and then Germany.
While he was in Germany there was a police report which alleged that, when drunk, had kicked the driver's door and passenger door of a train.
No damage was caused and investigations were discontinued.
On the crime report, his date of birth was recorded as 1 January 1998, which would make him 27 now, but he told the court that date of birth was a mistake.
Questions about defendant's arrival in the UKpublished at 11:21 BST 21 October
Mr Majek has told the court he was born in Khartoum and his first language is Dinka, a language spoken in South Sudan.
He is speaking in court today through an interpreter.
The court heard he arrived in the UK in July 2024 and applied for asylum.
While he was waiting for that to be processed he stayed at the Park Inn hotel in Walsall.
Defendant begins giving evidencepublished at 11:05 BST 21 October
The defendant, Deng Majek, has begun giving evidence in court, via an Arabic interpreter.
He is being questioned by the defence barrister Gurdeep Garcha KC, and starts by confirming he is 19 years old.
'Screams heard by friend'published at 11:01 BST 21 October
Wolverhampton Crown Court has previously heard from the prosecution that Mr Majek killed Rhiannon Whyte after "tracking" her from the hotel to the nearby station after her shift ended at 23:00 BST.
The jury was told she called a friend at 23:04 and Mr Majek was seen on CCTV cameras closing the gap on her as she approached the deserted platform.
Barrister Michelle Heeley, for the Crown, said: "It was then that the prosecution say that this defendant attacked her."
The court was also shown CCTV footage of Ms Whyte on her phone at the station.
Image source, BTPHer friend, Emma Cowley, gave evidence to the court last Wednesday in a video-recorded interview. In it, she said she remembered silence before she heard "a really high-pitched, terrified, in-pain scream".
The pair, both 27, had been friends since the age of five, and had chatted every couple of days, jurors heard.
She said she asked if Ms Whyte was OK, before she heard another scream and then just silence.
The court was told she heard three screams in total.
Murder weapon not foundpublished at 10:50 BST 21 October
Mr Majek also denies a separate count of possessing an offensive weapon.
The prosecution has said the puncture wounds had the appearance of a cross-headed screwdriver, which has never been found.
The case in summarypublished at 10:35 BST 21 October
Image source, Family photo/BTPAsylum seeker Deng Majek is accused of murdering Rhiannon Whyte, who worked at the hotel where he was staying in Walsall, in the West Midlands.
Ms Whyte, who was 27, was found unconscious at Bescot Stadium railway station on the evening of 20 October 2024.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard from the prosecution that she had been stabbed 23 times with a screwdriver, 11 times in the head, and she died three days later in hospital.
Deng Majek, who says he is 19, denies killing Ms Whyte.
The trial is expected to last about three weeks.
Our live coverage todaypublished at 10:30 BST 21 October
Good morning, today we will be bringing you coverage of proceedings at Wolverhampton Crown Court, where an asylum seeker from Sudan is on trial for murder.
Deng Majek is accused of stabbing 27-year-old Rhiannon Whyte at a railway station in Walsall in October last year.
Mr Majek himself is expected to take the stand today.