Zara Aleena: Sexual predator Jordan McSweeney pleads guilty to murdering law graduate as she walked home
A sexual predator has pleaded guilty to murdering law graduate Zara Aleena just days after being released from prison.
Jordan McSweeney appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday where he admitted murdering Ms Aleena, who was brutally kicked and stamped on, then left for dead, in the early hours of 26 June this year.
The 29-year-old defendant, who had targeted more than one woman before he preyed on Ms Aleena, also pleaded guilty to sexual assault.
Ms Aleena was walking home in Ilford, east London, after spending the evening with friends when she was attacked by McSweeney.
Prosecutors said the 35-year-old woman “stood no chance” as the killer dragged her into a driveway before kicking and stamping on her.
McSweeney sexually assaulted the law graduate and made off with her mobile phone, keys and handbag, the court heard.
Emergency services were called at 2.44am after Ms Aleena was found with severe head injuries, partially naked and struggling to breathe on Cranbrook Road in Ilford.
Paramedics took the victim to the Royal London Hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
A post-mortem examination found she had suffered multiple serious injuries.
Ms Aleena was only minutes from home when she was murdered, in what police described as an “opportunist stranger attack”.
A vigil was held for Zara Aleena in Ilford following her death
Blood-stained clothes
CCTV from the night of the killing showed McSweeney following several women before fixating on Ms Aleena.
He was also captured on CCTV returning to his caravan in Dagenham, Essex, after the killing, where police recovered Ms Aleena’s bloodstained clothes.
More bloodstains were found on a wall in Cranbrook Road with the defendant’s fingerprint identified on them.
McSweeney had been released from prison on licence just nine days before the murder.
The court heard he was a prolific offender who had previously been jailed for criminal damage, racially aggravated harassment and unauthorised possession of a knife in prison.
He had 28 convictions for 69 separate offences including burglary, theft of a vehicle, criminal damage, assaulting police officers and assaulting members of the public while on bail.
Flowers left after a vigil for Zara Aleena
‘Substantial risk’ to public
After his arrest following Ms Aleena’s death, McSweeney refused to answer questions but told officers he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
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 was an aspiring lawyer and had just started a new job at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Her family described her as a “carefree spirit, with the most caring heart” in a tribute following her death.
“She walked everywhere,” the family said. “She put her party shoes in a bag and donned her trainers.
“Zara believed that a woman should be able to walk home.”
Ms Aleena had ‘the most caring heart’, her family said. Pic: Met Police
Ms Aleena’s murder led to more calls to end violence against women and girls.
Speaking outside court, Detective Chief Inspector David Whellams said Ms Aleena “had every right to feel safe” but “instead she was a victim of shocking violence”.
“We are working tirelessly alongside communities and our partners to make sure women can feel safer, and crucially safer in our city,” the senior Metropolitan Police officer said.
He described McSweeney – who will be sentenced on 14 December – as a “very dangerous individual”.
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‘She had every right to feel safe’, Met Police says
After the hearing, senior Crown prosecutor Olcay Sapanoglu said it was “clear that McSweeney was intent that night on finding a woman to attack”.
“He sexually assaulted her, then brutally stamped on her several times before appearing to walk away,” the prosecutor said.
“Moments later he returned, only to stamp on her several times more and then, finally, leaving her for dead.
“McSweeney did not display a shred of humanity towards Zara.
“Indeed, having completed his initial assault, he returned to inflict further injuries, leading to her death. At no stage during his police interviews did he express any sorrow for his actions.”
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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