Koci Selamaj

The offence

What the court heard

He pleaded guilty to murder in Kidbrooke, south-east London, on 17 September 2021. SENTENCING REMARKS OF MR JUSTICE SWEENEY On 25 February 2022 the Defendant, who is aged 36, pleaded guilty on re-arraignment to the murder of Sabina Nessa, a much loved 28 year old primary school teacher who, in the evening of Friday 17 September 2021, was killed by him, a complete stranger, during a predatory attack upon her as she was walking alone through Cator Park, in Kidbrooke in South East London, on her way to meet a friend. She was savagely beaten unconscious, dragged off the beaten track into an area of long grass, asphyxiated, and her body hidden. Yesterday the Defendant refused to leave the prison to attend Court, or to attend from the prison via video link. He has also refused to attend today. However cowardly those refusals may be, I have no power to force him to attend. On the other hand, it is not disputed that his non-attendance is voluntary, and that it is appropriate to sentence him in his absence. The sentence for murder is life imprisonment, but I must also fix the minimum term that the Defendant must serve before he can even be considered for release by the Parole Board. It may be that he will never be released. The first aspect of the process of identifying the correct minimum term is the selection of the appropriate starting point. The Prosecution assert that the seriousness of the murder was particularly high because it was a murder involving sexual conduct and that thus, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020, the starting point should be one of 30 years. On 25 February 2022 the Defendant indicated, for the first time, that he accepted that the murder was sexually motivated, that no further evidence in relation to that issue was required, and that therefore the correct starting point was indeed 30 years. Before going any further, I wish to make some general observations. Sabina Nessa was the wholly blameless victim of an absolutely appalling murder which was entirely the fault of the Defendant - who has added to the sense of insecurity that people, particularly women, have living in our cities when walking or travelling alone, especially at night. As her family's moving Victim Personal Statements make clear, Sabina's was a life that mattered. A life that did not deserve to be taken in such a heinous and cowardly way. She had every right, as her family say, to be walking through the park, all glammed up and going…

Aggravating and mitigating factors

Planned / Premeditated / Degree of Planning

Around this case

• Central Criminal Court Crown Court
• Prosecuted by Crown Prosecution Service
• Investigated by Metropolitan Police Service