Jordan Clive James McSweeney

2 offences

What the court heard

THIS SENTENCE HAS BEEN REDUCED ON APPEALHe pleaded guilty to murder and sexual assault in Ilford, north east London, on 26 June 2022. SENTENCING REMARKS 1. Jordan McSweeney is 29 years old and has 28 previous convictions for 69 crimes dating back to 2006. They range from racially motivated offences, driving offences, and assault on police to battery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He began his criminal career as a teenager which may be a sign of the dysfunctional family experience he had endured. Nothing he was deprived of in terms of familial love, boundaries, safety or security could begin to justify his actions and attitudes as an independent adult with the ability to reason and opportunities to reform available to him. 2. On 17 June 2022 he was released from custody after serving a portion of a custodial sentence. On 21 June he went to live with a friend in his caravan in a fun fair in Valentine Park in Ilford. As part of his release on licence he was supposed to attend appointments with a probation officer but failed to do that. Breach of this condition would, as he would have been told, lead to his arrest and return to detention. His licence was revoked on 24 June. On the night of 26 June, just nine days after release from prison, Jordan McSweeney was prowling the streets of Ilford looking for a woman to attack. 3. His victim that night was Zara Aleena, a smart and successful 35 year old. A complete stranger. Someone whose values and character were entirely the opposite of his. She had studied law and was due to be admitted onto the Solicitors Roll. Miss Aleena's Aunt Farah Naz and her grandmother Rashda Parveen have told the court, in articulate, elegant and moving terms how precious and special the woman this defendant sexually assaulted and murdered was. 4. Every human being has her own essential qualities. Zara believed in justice. She had a strong moral compass. She filled her life with big ideas, big plans and a zest for existence. She was confident and active, working and volunteering to use her talents to the full. She was well-loved, her mother's only child and her death has broken that woman. Zara's absence is being felt constantly by the entire extended family. The light has gone out from their lives. They will campaign for a better world in her name. For the life she lost doing nothing wrong, they want to make the world safer for others. 5. The defendant had been drinking that night with the friend whose caravan he was…

Aggravating and mitigating factors

Planned / Premeditated / Degree of Planning; On licence / supervision at the time of the offence; A Guilty Plea; Sexually motivated

Around this case

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