A Sudanese asylum seeker has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years for the murder of a hotel employee in central England, in a case that has intensified national debate over asylum housing and community safety.
The sentence was handed down Friday at Coventry Crown Court, where Deng Chol Majek was convicted of killing Rhiannon Whyte, 27, a hotel worker who was attacked after finishing her shift in October 2024.
Prosecutors told the court that Majek followed Whyte from her workplace to a nearby railway station before attacking her. She was seriously injured and later died in hospital three days after the assault.
Majek was convicted in October and formally sentenced on Friday to a life term with a minimum of 29 years before eligibility for parole.
Passing sentence, Judge Michael Soole described the killing as “particularly vicious” and told Majek there had been a “chilling composure in every aspect of your behavior,” underscoring the severity of the crime and the danger posed to the public.
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The case has drawn attention beyond the courtroom, with anti-immigration demonstrators gathering outside the court during the sentencing hearing.
The murder has also become part of a broader national debate over the government’s use of hotels to house asylum seekers while their claims are processed.
In recent months, protests have erupted outside asylum hotels across England, some of which turned violent following unrelated criminal cases involving migrants. Those incidents have fueled political pressure on immigration policy and asylum accommodation practices.
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The Labour government, facing rising support for the anti-immigration Reform UK party in opinion polls, has pledged tougher measures on illegal immigration.
Ministers have also committed to ending the practice of housing asylum seekers in hotels by 2029, shifting toward alternative accommodation systems while applications are processed.
Officials have argued that long-term hotel placements are unsustainable both financially and socially, while rights groups have stressed the need for humane, lawful processing of asylum claims.
