Asylum Seeker Denies Murder Despite CCTV Evidence.

A Sudanese asylum seeker on trial for murder has told a court he was not the person captured on CCTV allegedly following a hotel worker to a railway station where she was fatally stabbed.

Deng Majek, who denies killing 27-year-old Rhiannon Whyte, repeatedly insisted “that’s not me” when shown footage that prosecutors say depicts him at Bescot Stadium station. Ms Whyte, who worked at Walsall’s Park Inn hotel where Majek was residing, died three days after being stabbed 23 times with a screwdriver on October 20, 2024.

Testifying through an interpreter at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Majek denied any interaction with the victim. When asked whether he had spoken to her, seen her, or had any reason to harm her, he answered “no” to each question. He also rejected earlier claims that he deliberately stared at female staff members or pushed past them, saying he was “just walking my own path.”

Defence counsel Gurdeep Garcha KC questioned Majek about CCTV footage showing someone walking toward Platform 2 at 11:17 PM and returning 90 seconds later—the timeframe when Ms Whyte was attacked. Majek maintained he was in the hotel’s smoking area at that time.

He acknowledged leaving the hotel earlier that day to purchase beer before dark, but denied any other trips. Phone footage from later that evening shows him dancing and drinking with others outside the hotel, holding what he claimed was coffee and beer bought earlier. When emergency blue lights appeared at the nearby station, Majek said he saw them but didn’t know there was a problem.

When his defence barrister asked if he was “euphoric” from attacking Ms Whyte, given his dancing shortly after the incident, Majek replied he was simply “playing music and dancing like normal.”

The court heard that Majek returned to his room shortly after midnight, changing from flip-flops to trainers because it was cold outside. He denied suggestions that he changed footwear because the flip-flops had blood on them. He also rejected forensic evidence showing Ms Whyte’s blood on his jacket, trousers, and flip-flops, as well as her DNA on his rings and under his fingernails.

In cross-examination, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC showed him CCTV of someone buying beer from a shop at 11:48 PM. When asked to look the jury in the eye and confirm whether it was him, Majek faced them and said: “That’s not me.” The trial continues.RetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.