Zara Aleena’s Killer to Challenge Prison Sentence

A sexual predator, Jordan McSweeney, who stalked and brutally murdered Zara Aleena, is set to challenge his prison sentence at the Court of Appeal.

McSweeney, who had targeted at least five women before the fatal attack, brutally assaulted 35-year-old Zara Aleena as she walked home from a night out in east London on June 26, 2022.

Just nine days before this heinous crime, McSweeney had been released from prison on licence.

Upon conviction, McSweeney was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years after admitting to the charges of murder and sexual assault.

The attack on Cranbrook Road in Ilford lasted a horrifying nine minutes and resulted in 46 separate injuries to the law graduate.

Now, McSweeney is gearing up to challenge his sentence as “manifestly excessive” at the Court of Appeal.

During the trial at the Old Bailey, it was revealed that McSweeney had failed to attend any meetings with probation workers following his release on June 17 the previous year, and as a result, his licence had been revoked.

The chief inspector of probation, Justin Russell, pointed out errors in the Probation Service’s handling of McSweeney’s case, which meant he was not treated as a high-risk offender.

Describing McSweeney as a “career criminal” who had been in and out of jail since the age of 16, Mr. Russell emphasized that he “should have been considered a high-risk-of-serious-harm offender.”

Had he been classified as such, more urgent action would have been taken to recall him to prison after he missed his supervision appointments upon release from custody. The Probation Service’s failure to do so allowed him to commit this heinous crime against an innocent young woman.