Zara Aleena’s killer claims he only murdered her because she fought back
Zara Aleena’s killer murdered her after she fought off his sexual assault and his “level of aggression” rose, his barrister has claimed.
George Carter-Stephenson KC made the remarks during a Court of Appeal hearing where Jordan McSweeney was making a bid to reduce the minimum term of his sentence.
Mr Carter-Stephenson tried to argue that the attack was not a premeditated murder and that it was only after Ms Aleena resisted so strongly that she was killed.
McSweeney killed the 35–year-old law graduate in a “terrifying and ruthless” assault as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London, on June 26 2022.
Mr Carter-Stephenson said that he wanted to make clear “from the outset that it is accepted that the attack and murder was particularly savage”.
He added: “Nothing I intend to say in this address is in any way meant to detract from that.”
He then argued that the sentencing judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, had wrongly factored in the aggravating features of the case.
He said that the murder itself was not premeditated and was an “opportunistic” assault.
He continued: “The attack was an opportunistic act rather than anything that was planned in advance though there was clearly a sexual encounter in mind.
“He planned to look for a sexual encounter, with or without consent.”
Mr Carter-Stephenson later said “the resistance put up by the victim” caused “the level of aggression to rise” during the assault.
“I don’t mean to put any blame on the victim at all,” he added.
McSweeney himself, who appeared via video link from Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire, left proceedings after just 45 minutes.
An unnamed prison officer, who appeared on the video-link with the inmate, told the court: “He’s heard enough and has got everything he requires in his cell.”
Judges were later told Ms Aleena was made unconscious early during the attack.
Mr Carter-Stephenson said: “Given the nature of the attack … the time for the suffering of this victim was limited. That, to some extent, must impact how one views that as an aggravating feature.”
The barrister later said McSweeney had ADHD, which should have been taken into account in sentencing.
“They are wired somewhat differently than most people. They are impulsive… their behaviour is less predictable,” he said.
However, Oliver Glasgow KC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the suggestion McSweeney had not intended to kill Ms Aleena was “unsustainable”.
He told the court McSweeney had spent two hours stalking several women before turning his attention to Ms Aleena.
Mr Glasgow told the court he “wanted to avoid any risk that he could subsequently be identified by any victim”.
The barrister said: “This was not a moment of impulsive aggression. It was a considered act and the product of hours of pursuing women along the streets.
“There was nothing that Zara Aleena did that provoked the violence that was given to her.”
At the hearing before the Lady Chief Justice Lady Carr, Mrs Justice McGowan and Mrs Justice Ellenbogen, Lady Carr said their decision would be given in writing “as soon as possible”.
Ms Aleena’s family said McSweeney’s bid to lower his sentence had caused “profound distress”.
