Sudanese man jailed in UK for murdering asylum hotel worker

LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - ⁠A Sudanese asylum ⁠seeker ‍was jailed on Friday for a minimum of 29 years for murdering a woman who ‍worked at the hotel in central England where ​he and other migrants were being housed.

Anti-immigration activists have seized on ​other criminal cases involving asylum seekers, predominantly young men, in hotels to argue that they are a danger to nearby communities.

Last ​summer, a number of protests at asylum hotels across England – sparked by the arrest of an Ethiopian ​asylum seeker for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman – turned violent.

The ‌Labour government, nervous of the rise of the anti-immigration Reform UK party in opinion polls, ​has promised to clamp down ⁠on illegal immigration and, by 2029, to stop placing asylum seekers in hotels while their ‌cases are processed.

Deng Chol Majek followed Rhiannon Whyte, 27, to a railway station in October 2024 after she finished ‌her shift.

He stabbed her 23 times to the head, chest and ‌arm with a screwdriver. She died in hospital three days later.

Majek was convicted in October and sentenced on Friday to life imprisonment ‍with a minimum of 29 years at Coventry Crown Court, where some anti-immigration protesters ⁠gathered outside for the hearing.

Judge Michael Soole said the murder was "particularly vicious" and told Majek there had been a "chilling composure in every aspect of your behaviour".

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Iran and Oman discuss temporary Hormuz corridor as impasse with US drags on
• Explainer-What are H-1B visas for skilled workers and what changes loom?
• Notable people react to the death of country singer Dolly Parton