Police 'toned down' statement of mother whose hotel worker daughter was murdered by an asylum seeker in case it led to race riots

Published: 23:52, 20 June 2026 | Updated: 23:52, 20 June 2026 Police 'guided' the family of a hotel worker in 'toning down' their public statements after she was murdered by an asylum seeker – in case their words led to anti-immigration rioting. Rhiannon Whyte, 27, was stabbed 23 times with a screwdriver by Sudanese national Deng Majek while waiting at a train station. Majek, 28, spent the night dancing around the Park Inn Hotel in Bescot, Walsall, where Rhiannon worked and which was being used to house asylum seekers. He was jailed for 29 years in January. Her death came two months after the fatal stabbings of three young girls in Southport in July 2024 by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, a British citizen of Rwandan descent. Anti-migrant riots broke out following misinformation which was circulated online claiming that Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain on a small boat. Now Rhiannon's mother, Siobhan, has claimed police said they didn't want 'another Southport' when she told them her daughter's life support was to be turned off. She said: 'Did they tell us what to say? No. Did they guide us so it didn't look so aggressive? Maybe. I was aggressive – they toned it down.' Ms Whyte – who stresses that she is grateful for the help she received from the police in the aftermath of her daughter's death – added: 'I think they didn't want violence... they didn't want a riot.' Rhiannon Whyte, 27, was stabbed 23 times with a screwdriver in October 2024. Pictured is Rhiannon in a British Transport Police handout released at the time Pictured is asylum seeker Deng Chol Majek, 27, originally from Sudan, who murdered hotel worker Rhiannon. Here he is seen in a police mugshot It follows revelations in last week's Mail on Sunday about how the Government's secretive Research, Information and Communications Unit tries to manage the 'challenges' of multiculturalism by manipulating public mood following murders or terrorist incidents with a racial element. When Rhiannon's family told police they were turning off her life support, officers quickly removed the migrants from the hotel.  Ms Whyte added: 'Those migrants were out within two hours – I think that's because [the police] feared violence.'  It was only after Majek was sentenced that Ms Whyte mentioned the fact he had arrived in the UK on a small boat three months before the attack – and criticised Sir Keir Starmer. She said: 'The Prime Minister's got blood on his hands.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.