Sudanese man jailed in UK for murdering asylum hotel worker

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".