Jurors in a murder trial have been shown CCTV footage that the prosecution says shows the moment an asylum seeker followed a woman before killing her. Prosecutors allege Deng Chol Majek, who is from Sudan and claims to be 19, stabbed migrant hotel worker Rhiannon Skye Whyte 23 times with a screwdriver on a deserted train platform in Walsall on October 20 last year.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard on Tuesday how Majek was caught on CCTV as he followed Ms Whyte from the Park Inn hotel — where he was living as it was being used to house asylum seekers — to Bescot Stadium station. CCTV footage shown to the jury showed 27-year-old Ms Whyte walking through the station car park, followed 90 seconds later by a hooded figure that the prosecution alleges was Majek. Majek then “closed the gap” to 30 seconds as she reached the empty platform at 11.13pm, the court heard.
Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said: “It was then that the prosecution say that this defendant attacked her.”
Ms Whyte, who finished her shift at the hotel at 11pm, was speaking to a friend over the phone at the time she was attacked, the court heard.
Ms Heeley said the friend heard two screams and the phone “went dead” at 11.19pm.
“Shortly after that this defendant could be seen running back up the stairs from the platform,” the prosecutor told the court.
“He had an object lit up in his hand – that was Rhiannon’s mobile phone.”
Ms Heeley alleged the defendant then threw Ms Whyte’s phone into a river which was later recovered by police.
CCTV footage played to the court appeared to show a figure chucking a device into water at 11:20pm.
The train that Ms Whyte had been due to catch pulled in at 11.24pm and the driver saw a figure slumped on the platform.
The court heard a train guard and a hotel employee attempted to help Ms Whyte who died three days later in hospital having never regained consciousness.
Jurors were told Ms Whyte had worked at the Park Inn hotel for three months, helping with things including cleaning and serving food, while the defendant was a resident.
Ms Heeley told the court that earlier on the day of the attack, CCTV footage showed the defendant “hanging around the reception area, staring at Rhiannon throughout the evening”.
On Tuesday, the prosecutor also told jurors that Majek was found with Ms Whyte’s DNA under his fingernails.
Ms Heeley alleged that after returning to the hotel following the attack, Majek was “seen dancing and laughing, clearly excited about what he had done”.
Eleven of the 23 stab wounds penetrated Ms Whyte’s skull, one of which damaged the brain stem, causing her death, the court heard.
Majek denies murder and possessing a screwdriver as an offensive weapon. The trial continues.