Murder trial opens in Wolverhampton over hotel worker stabbing

A 27-year-old hotel worker was fatally stabbed on a deserted railway platform after being followed from the hotel where she worked, a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court has been told. Prosecutors say Deng Chol Majek, a Sudanese man who has sought asylum in the UK and says he is 19, followed Rhiannon Skye Whyte from the Park Inn hotel in Walsall to Bescot Stadium station on the night of October 20 last year and attacked her with a screwdriver. She died in hospital three days later.

Opening the prosecution case, Michelle Heeley KC told jurors CCTV showed Majek lingering in the hotel reception, watching Ms Whyte during her shift and changing into distinctive clothing before leaving as she did. Ms Whyte finished work at 11pm and was on a phone call to a friend when the prosecution says the defendant followed her to the station, closed the gap between them and, at about 11.13pm, launched the attack. The friend heard two screams and the call went dead a few minutes later.

Jurors were told Ms Whyte sustained 23 stab wounds, most to the head. The prosecution said 11 wounds penetrated her skull, one of which damaged her brain stem. A train driver later found her slumped on the platform;...