The mother of hotel worker Rhiannon Whyte, who was murdered by an asylum seeker, has claimed police urged her family to be careful with their public comments after the tragedy to avoid inflaming tensions over immigration.
Siobhan Whyte said officers were worried about the risk of “another Southport” after being told that life support for her 27-year-old daughter would be switched off.
She said: “Did they tell us what to say? No. Did they steer us so it didn’t come across as too aggressive? Maybe. I was angry, and they toned it down.”
Sudanese migrant Deng Majek, 28, stabbed Rhiannon 23 times with a screwdriver at a train station in October 2024.
He was later jailed for 29 years for the savage killing.
In the hours after the attack, Majek was reportedly seen drinking alcohol and dancing.
Despite her criticism, Ms Whyte said police supported her family throughout the ordeal.
“I think they were worried about violence,” she said. “They didn’t want a riot.”
The killing happened just three months after the Southport murders, in which 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana stabbed three young girls to death, triggering widespread unrest.
Ms Whyte said migrants were removed from the Park Inn Hotel where Majek had been staying within two hours of the family learning Rhiannon’s life support would be withdrawn.
“Those migrants were out within two hours. I think that’s because the police feared violence,” she said.
She only spoke publicly about how Majek arrived in Britain after he was sentenced, revealing he had crossed the Channel in a small boat just three months before killing her daughter.
The grieving mother also launched a fierce attack on the Prime Minister after the case concluded.
“The Prime Minister has blood on his hands,” she said.
Speaking to GB News following the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton, Ms Whyte said: “I feel like nobody is listening to me.
“It feels like Rhiannon’s case has just been pushed aside. What happened to Henry Nowak is absolutely devastating. I’m glad his family met Starmer because they deserved that.
“But because an illegal migrant was involved in Rhiannon’s case — and in many others — nobody seems willing to listen to me or give me answers.
“I’m reaching out to Starmer, and he’s off in America. What about the people here? What about me? All I’m asking for is answers about what happened to my daughter.”
