The sister of murdered Rhiannon Whyte joined hundreds of anti-migrant protesters in Portsmouth as demonstrators entered the sea to confront a boat carrying around 140 asylum seekers rescued from the Channel.
Alex Whyte travelled around four hours to take part in the demonstration at Eastney Beach on Sunday, where more than 500 people reportedly gathered during a protest lasting several hours.
Alex’s sister Rhiannon was murdered in October 2024 by Deng Majek, a Sudanese asylum seeker who attacked her with a screwdriver as she waited at a railway station after finishing work.
Alex, who is now helping to raise Rhiannon’s young son, has since campaigned for changes to the asylum system.
Speaking at the Portsmouth demonstration, she said: “I’m proud to be here and angry, obviously, at the fact we’ve allowed more [migrants] in.
“We get to as many [protests] as we can humanely get to. I’ve just driven four hours to get to this tonight because it’s a worthy cause.
“We should be here; we should be stopping them. The whole country should be here.”
Majek, 28, had been staying at the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall, which was being used to accommodate asylum seekers and where Rhiannon worked.
He was convicted of murdering the 27-year-old after stabbing her 23 times with a screwdriver.
Alex and her family are campaigning for what they have called “Rhiannon’s Law”, under which undocumented asylum seekers would be detained while their applications are processed.
Alex said she had met Government ministers earlier in the week and claimed she had been given assurances that action would be taken to stop Channel crossings.
She said: “I walked away from there and said if they stick to what they say then great — but we have had so many broken promises.”
The demonstration in Portsmouth intensified as a vessel carrying around 140 people approached the shoreline.
Dozens of protesters ran across Eastney Beach and entered the water, chanting “stop the boats” and “enough is enough”.
Footage shared online showed people from the vessel being brought ashore before being transferred onto buses.
Hundreds of demonstrators later gathered on the road in an attempt to prevent coaches carrying the group from leaving the area.
Police eventually dispersed the remaining protesters in the early hours of Monday morning, with around 200 people reportedly still present at about 4am.
Some protesters subsequently followed the coaches in cars as they travelled away from Portsmouth.
Police said those brought ashore were later transported outside Hampshire to be processed under standard procedures.
Eastney Beach is around four miles from the Port of Portsmouth and HM Naval Base Portsmouth, home to Royal Navy destroyers and the aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
The arrival was unusual because most small-boat crossings end much further east along the Channel coast.
The vessel had travelled from the Jóbourg area of Normandy before two RNLI boats met it and brought it towards Portsmouth.
Home Office figures showed eight boats carrying a total of 625 people crossed the Channel on Sunday.
A Home Office spokesperson condemned the scenes in Portsmouth, saying: “We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour we saw in Portsmouth last night.
“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder.”
Police confirmed those brought ashore had subsequently been transported out of Hampshire for processing.
