Nottingham Post

Predator admits to Zara murder

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A SEXUAL predator has admitted murdering law graduate Zara Aleena, who was brutally kicked and stamped on, then left for dead.

Jordan Mcsweeney had only recently been released from prison and had targeted more than one woman before he preyed on the 35-year-old as she walked home from a night out early on Sunday, June 26.

At a hearing on Friday, Mcsweeney, 29, of Dagenham, Essex, pleaded guilty to murder and sexual assault.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow KC had said Mcsweeney launched an “attack upon a lone female late at night making her way home, a woman who stood no chance”.

During the brief hearing, Sweeney stood in the dock and stared at the floor as he entered his guilty pleas while Ms Aleena’s family looked on in court.

The defendant had dragged Ms Aleena into a driveway in Cranbrook Road, Ilford, east London, where he subjected her to a ferocious assault. He sexually assaulted the law graduate and made off with her phone, keys and handbag, the prosecutio­n said.

Ms Aleena was taken to hospital where she died later that morning.

A post-mortem examinatio­n found she had suffered multiple serious injuries.

Video footage from the area showed Mcsweeney appearing to target other women before he followed Ms Aleena.

After the killing, other CCTV captured him returning to his caravan in Dagenham, where police recovered Ms Aleena’s bloodstain­ed clothes.

After his arrest, Mcsweeney refused to answer questions but told officers he had attention deficit hyperactiv­ity disorder.

While in custody, he was also said to have threatened police officers.

Having been charged with murder, he was remanded into custody after a judge found he was a “substantia­l risk” to the public, especially lone women.

Ms Aleena’s family described her as independen­t, big-hearted and a joy.

Her aunt Farah Naz had said her niece had been conscious of the dangers for women after the murders of Bibaa Henry, Nicole Smallman, Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa.

But she had felt “safe” walking in the community where she was well known.

Ms Aleena had begun working at the Royal Courts of Justice five weeks before her death and was “the happiest she had ever been”, her family said.

Mcsweeney’s plea hearing had been delayed after the defendant suffered Covid in custody. His barrister George Carter-stephenson KC said: “He is still feeling unwell from Covid but realises the importance of being here today.”

Mrs Justice Cheema-grubb adjourned sentencing until December 14.

She told Mcsweeney: “You pleaded guilty to very serious matters. I’m sure you appreciate the kind of sentence you will receive.

“But I will listen carefully to the Crown’s opening of the case and the submission­s on your behalf so it’s in your interests to cooperate with those representi­ng you.”

Speaking outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams said: “My thoughts are with her family and her friends. I cannot imagine the pain that they’ve experience­d over the past five to six months.”

 ?? ?? Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Jordan Mcsweeney
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Jordan Mcsweeney

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