An asylum seeker has been sentenced to a minimum of 29 years for stabbing a hotel worker to death at a train station in the West Midlands.
Deng Chol Majek stabbed Rhiannon Skye Whyte in the head 19 times with a screwdriver, and 23 times in total, in October 2024.
He was caught on CCTV following her from the Park Inn hotel, in Walsall – where he lived and she worked – to Bescot Stadium station.
Majek was handed a life sentence on Friday, with a minimum term of 29 years.
A court heard Majek, who is from Sudan and claimed to be 19 years old, had previously been reported to hotel security after “spookily” staring at three female staff for prolonged periods.
Ms Whyte, 27, died three days after the attack, having been found injured by the driver and guard of a train which pulled in about five minutes later.
Majek, who is about 10 inches taller than Ms Whyte, walked to the Caldmore Green area of Walsall after the attack to buy beer and was recorded apparently wiping blood from his trousers.
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He returned to the hotel at 12.13am, changed his bloodstained flip-flops for trainers, and was seen dancing with other residents in the car park, within sight of emergency vehicles called to the station.
Carla Harris, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Rhiannon Whyte should have been able to go to work and come home safely – but Deng Chol Majek robbed her of her life and future.
“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.”
Majek was originally found guilty in October, and police at the time said he had shown no remorse.
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