Park Inn by Radisson, Walsall
The Park Inn by Radisson on Bescot Crescent, Walsall, near Bescot Stadium station, was used to house asylum seekers, according to the Crown Prosecution Service[1]GOV.UK. The Press Association reported in January 2026 that Serco, which ran the hotel, stopped using it for asylum seekers in October 2024[3]Press. Nothing else about its use is established: no source gives a start date or a number of residents, and no cost has been published.
Background
The Park Inn by Radisson is on Bescot Crescent in Walsall[1]GOV.UK, near Bescot Stadium railway station[2]GOV.UK. The Crown Prosecution Service release of 24 October 2025 describes it as a hotel housing asylum seekers[1]GOV.UK. The Press Association reported on 30 January 2026 that Serco ran the hotel and stopped using it for asylum seekers in October 2024[3]Press.
We have found no source that gives a start date for its use as asylum accommodation, a number of residents, or a cost, so none is shown here.
Court case
On 20 October 2024 Rhiannon Whyte, 27, who worked at the hotel, was attacked at Bescot Stadium station after her shift. She died in hospital on 23 October 2024[1]GOV.UK[2]GOV.UK.
Deng Chol Majek, whom the sentencing judge described as a resident at the hotel, was convicted of her murder and of having an offensive weapon at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 24 October 2025[1]GOV.UK. He was sentenced by Mr Justice Soole at Coventry Crown Court on 30 January 2026 to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years[2]GOV.UK.
Timeline
Timeline
Oct 2024
Asylum use ends
The Press Association reports that Serco stopped using the hotel for asylum seekers in October 2024.
20 Oct 2024
A hotel worker is attacked at Bescot Stadium station
Rhiannon Whyte, 27, who worked at the hotel, was attacked after her shift. She died on 23 October 2024.
24 Oct 2025
Conviction
Wolverhampton Crown Court convicts a man, whom the sentencing judge described as a resident at the hotel, of murder and of having an offensive weapon.
30 Jan 2026
Sentence
Mr Justice Soole sentences him at Coventry Crown Court to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years.
Sources
- Man convicted of murdering Walsall hotel worker on train station platform · Crown Prosecution Service (West Midlands), 24 Oct 2025
CPS release: a man was convicted of murder and of having an offensive weapon at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 24 October 2025, after a trial that began on 13 October 2025, over the killing of a 27-year-old woman who worked at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Walsall, where he had been staying. It names the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel and Bescot Stadium railway station, gives the attack as 20 October 2024 and her death as 23 October 2024, and says he was living in Bescot Crescent, Walsall. It gives no start date for the hotel's use and no number of residents.
- R v Deng Chol Majek: sentencing remarks · Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (Mr Justice Soole, Crown Court at Coventry), 30 Jan 2026
Sentencing remarks of 30 January 2026: life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years (27 years 264 days after time on remand). They say the victim was on the platform at Bescot Stadium railway station after her late shift as an employee at the nearby Park Inn hotel, and that the defendant "was a resident at the hotel"; the attack was at about 11.20 pm on 20 October 2024 and she died three days later. The remarks do not mention asylum.
- Man jailed for life for the murder of a hotel worker at Bescot Stadium station (Press Association report) · The Irish News (Press Association copy), 30 Jan 2026
Press Association report of the sentencing, 30 January 2026: the man had been living at the Park Inn hotel; Serco ran the hotel and stopped using it for asylum seekers in October 2024, the month of the killing. It names Bescot Stadium station and gives life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years. (The headline is not reproduced here.)