Zara Aleena's killer refuses to appear in court as he receives life sentence for 'brutal’ murder
A sexual predator has been jailed for at least 38 years for the “brutal sexually motivated murder” of law graduate Zara Aleena.
Jordan McSweeney targeted more than one woman before he preyed on 35-year-old Ms Aleena as she walked home from a night out early on Sunday, 26 June.
She was dragged into a driveway by McSweeney before he brutally kicked, stamped on and sexually assaulted his victim, leaving her for dead.
McSweeney, 29, pleaded guilty last month to Ms Aleena’s murder and sexual assault in Ilford, east London, and was jailed for life at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
He refused to come to his sentencing because he did not want to watch the CCTV footage of what he did.
His defence told the court he did not want to "relive" the night of the crime, according to multiple reporters present in court.
Senior judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb eventually began sentencing in his absence, telling the court: “It seems to me we should proceed. I do not want members of the family to wait any longer.”
She later added: “The sentence for the brutal sexually motivated murder of Zara Aleena is imprisonment for life. The defendant will serve 38 years as the minimum term.”
“The defendant is a pugnacious and deeply violent man with a propensity to violence."
Responding to McSweeney’s failure to arrive in court, Jamie Klingler, the co-founder of social justice group Reclaim These Streets, said: “He doesn’t want to relive that night? What about Zara Aleena’s family who are in court right now who will never get her back because of his actions?”
During McSweeney’s sentencing, prosecutor Oliver Glasgow KC told the court that Ms Aleena “was only minutes from her front door” and she “had every right to feel safe on the street”.
Watch: Sex predator went on the prowl before killing Zara Aleena
He added that Ms Aleena “stood no chance of survival”.
Ms Aleena was found with severe head injuries and struggling to breathe and emergency services were called at 2.44am.
She died in hospital from compression to the neck and blunt force trauma to the head.
Earlier on the evening of 25 June, McSweeney had been ejected from a pub for making “persistent advances” to a female member of bar staff.
Glasgow said the defendant then “roamed the streets looking for a woman to attack and to sexually assault”.
He added: “Despite being only yards from a public street and from residential properties, the defendant attacked Zara Aleena with a savagery that is almost impossible to believe.
“He repeatedly kicked and stamped on her head and body, he tore some of her clothes from her body in order that he could sexually assault her, and then he attacked her again, kicking and stamping on her face and neck, and returning several times to continue the brutal violence.
“Finally, once satisfied that she would no longer be able to report him for what he had done, he walked away, taking her mobile telephone with him which he threw over a garden wall, thus ensuring that neither she nor anyone else who might find her could use the phone to call for help.”
After the killing, CCTV captured McSweeney returning to a caravan on a fairground, where police recovered Ms Aleena’s bloodstained clothes.
McSweeney, a prolific offender, had been released from prison on licence on 17 June – just days before the murder.
He had been in prison for criminal damage, racially aggravated harassment and unauthorised possession of a knife in prison.
In all, he has 28 previous 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.
