An evil sexual predator has been jailed for 38 years for murdering law graduate Zara Aleena just days after he was released from prison.
Jordan McSweeney left Ms Aleena - who was walking home from meeting friends - for dead after dragging her onto a driveway and brutally attacking and sexually assaulting her in nine minutes of sickening violence.
Today the vile killer refused to enter the dock at the Old Bailey, saying he didn't want to "relive" the murder.
McSweeney had targeted at least four women before he preyed on Ms Aleena, 35, who was discovered fatally injured in the early hours of Sunday, June 26.
He had earlier been thrown out of a Wetherspoons pub in Ilford after drunkenly harassing a member of staff, and left "determined to find, to attack and to kill a woman", the court heard.
Ms Aleena was attacked with "a savagery that is almost impossible to believe", before taking her phone and throwing it over a fence so she could not call for help.
She did everything she could to fight her killer off as he ambushed her and pulled her into the darkness, a prosecutor said.
Serial thug McSweeney, 29, of Dagenham, Essex, who pleaded guilty to her murder and sexual assault last month, had been recalled to prison two days before Ms Aleena's murder, but had not been arrested.
McSweeney had been drinking with a friend on the Saturday night, but staff at the pub refused to serve him after he made "persistent advances" to a female bar worker.
The court heard he had prowled the streets looking for women on their own, with CCTV showing him following or lying in wait for four women before Ms Aleena was attacked.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow KC said: "On the night of June 25, 2022, he had left a pub in Ilford and had roamed the streets looking for a woman to attack and to sexually assault.
"He followed a number of different women and given what happened to Zara Aleena, there can be no doubt that they were lucky to have escaped unharmed.
"Tragically for Zara Aleena, of course, she was not so fortunate. The defendant saw, decided to follow her and was determined to assault her.
"He approached her from behind, grabbed her around the neck and dragged her into a driveway. Despite only being yards from a public street and from residential properties, the defendant attacked Zara Aleena with a savagery that is almost impossible to believe."
He said Ms Aleena stood no chance of survival when she was targeted by McSweeney in Cranbrooke Road, Ilford, east London.
"She did all she could to fight him off, but she had no idea he was behind her, and she must have been terrified as the bigger and stronger Jordan McSweeney dragged her into the darkness and out of sight from any potential rescuer," Mr Glasgow said.
CCTV appeared to show a struggle as Ms Aleena fought against her attacker, with his DNA found underneath her fingernails.
The sickening footage of McSweeney killing the talented law graduate shows him returning to her motionless body on several occasions to continue his attack, which lasted nine minutes.
"Jordan McSweeney stands and begins to stamp onto Zara Aleena's body with a force that is almost unimaginable; indeed, if it were not for the indistinct CCTV footage, it would be hard to believe that anyone could treat another human being in such a violent and shocking manner," Mr Glasgow said.
A post-mortem examination concluded Ms Aleena had died of a traumatic brain injury, prolonged neck compression, and the blood loss.
"In short, she had been stamped and strangled to death," the prosecutor said.
Members of Zara's family, including her grandmother and aunt Farah Naz, sat in the well of the court.
They left court as CCTV footage of Ms Aleena was played.
Another 14 members of the family sat in the public gallery.
In an emotional victim impact, Ms Naz said: "She lost the future she worked so hard for. She lost her dreams to have a family and children, the right to grow old. She lost the chance to enjoy her fruits of her hard work.
"She would have suffered physically emotionally and mentally. Everything she was and everything she worked so hard for was destroyed by someone she didn’t even know. Someone else’s sense of entitlement."
Her elderly grandmother Rashida Parreen said she had been left "completely broken" by the brutal murder of her first grandchild. Breaking down in tears, she struggled to complete her statement due to her emotional distress.
Further harrowing CCTV footage showed McSweeney following a woman along Romford Road shortly after midnight. She became "evidently concerned" about his behaviour and ducks into a small supermarket.
He hid around the corner before re-emerging after the terrified woman left.
Mr Glasgow said: "She was right to be concerned. Seconds after she turned to leave, Jordan McSweney emerged from his hiding place and started to follow her. The woman turned down the first side street and started to run for her life."
He was seen watching a second woman with his hand down his trousers before following her, and after she got away McSweeney was seen with his arm around another female and his hand between her legs.
Describing the footage, Mr Glasgow said: "It is unclear what was being discussed but it is beyond dispute that this woman was lucky to walk away when she did."
He then hid in a doorway waiting for a fourth woman, who thankfully did not pass by, the court heard.
Emergency services were called at 2.44am after she was found with severe head injuries and struggling to breathe.
Ms Aleena was taken to hospital, but she tragically died within hours as a result of multiple injuries.
Police officers gathered CCTV footage, witness statements, DNA, and even a bloody fingerprint left by the attacker at the scene.
Video footage from the area showed McSweeney appearing to target two other women before he followed Ms Aleena.
After the killing, other CCTV captured him returning to a caravan on a fairground, where police recovered Ms Aleena's bloodstained clothes.
After being arrested, McSweeney refused to answer questions in a police interview - yawning and telling officers they were boring him.
The court was told McSweeney was a prolific offender and had been released from prison on licence on June 17.
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.
McSweeney's barrister George Carter-Stephenson KC, told the court his client had no memory of the events after leaving the pub due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed.
He added: "It may well be interpreted he was out to have sex with or without consent but there is no indication that he would have killed those other women
"What happened in relation to the victim in this case, we would submit it is spontaneous. Something that happened during the course of the struggle, in anger, frustration, panic. It was not premeditated but that doesn’t excuse his responsibility for what happened."
He said his client's childhood had been "far from ideal" and said he was deprived of love.
He continued: "His mother was a drug addict and as you will have seen in Dr Black’s report, is described by McSweeney as a crackhead. In his words she is very spiteful, vindictive and a horribly poisonous person.
"Her attention as always focused on one thing and one thing only, where to get her next fix. His father was hardly ever around and in fact his first memory of his father is when his father was attempting to drown his mother in the bath.
"He was seriously neglected as a young child, deprived of the love of either parent.
"As a result of dealing drugs he met many of the wrong kinds of people. At the age of 13 or 14 he became involved in bare-knuckle fighting. He had a reputation and he found making friendships very hard to make."
At the end of his arguments McSweeney's defence barrister added his client was "truly sorry" but was shut down by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb asked: "Where is the evidence of the remorse in that? That is not evidence I will accept."
Sentencing McSweeney to 38 years in prison, the judge said: "The defendant’s decision not to come up from the cells to court to hear the devastating impact of his crime shows that the man who took Zara Aleena’s life has no spine whatsoever.
"Nothing he was deprived of in terms of familial love, boundaries, safety or security could begin to justify his actions or attitudes as an independent adult with the ability to reason and opportunities to reform available to him.
"Nothing a judge can say make any difference to what happened to Zara Aleena and no sentence can bring her back. The defendant had the advantage of strength and surprise but Zara Aleena was better than him in every other way. She was talented, spirited and kind.
"She had done nothing wrong, taken no misstep, shown no lack of sense. She was simply a happy and healthy woman living her life in what most Londoners think is the best city in the world.
During today's sentencing hearing the court heard how McSweeney threatened to 'cut a prison officer's head off' while at HMP Pentonville two years before murdering the aspiring lawyer.
In February 2020, he made a number of threats to a prison guard at HMP Pentonville. He spat at him and threatened to kill him, saying that he would 'cut his head off and open him up'.
In the days after the shocking murder, thousands attended a vigil in memory of Ms Aleena.
The Metropolitan Police said the Probation Service had commenced recall proceedings on June 22 after McSweeney missed two appointments.
The force said it was informed on June 24 and attended an address linked to McSweeney the following day to arrest him but he was not there, and he was subsequently arrested on June 27.
A spokesperson said: "The actions of officers following McSweeney's recall to prison were reviewed by officers from the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards who found there was no indication of misconduct."
Ms Aleena had begun working at the Royal Courts of Justice five weeks before her death and was "the happiest she had ever been", her family said.
Earlier this year the family of Ms Aleena released a tribute that said: "Zara, 35, a beloved human, child, niece, cousin, granddaughter, friend to all, she was a joy to all of us.
"She was a carer for her mother, and her grandmother. Caring for others came so naturally to her.
"Zara was friendly, she was everybody's friend. She was everybody's daughter, everybody's niece, everybody's sister, everybody's cousin. She was pure of heart.
"She was a joy to all of us, her sparkling eyes and the curly, jet-black hair. Her glorious laughter and her sweet, smiling voice. Her tiny frame embodied a passionate spirit and indomitable energy."
