A man who murdered a teacher in a “savage” attack as she walked through a London park has been jailed for life.
Mr Justice Sweeney handed Koci Selamaj a 36-year minimum prison term after finding that he gained “considerable pleasure” from attacking Sabina Nessa.
Police said he had been “skulking in the shadows” looking for a target when the 28-year-old happened to cross his path while walking to meet a friend at a local pub.
The Old Bailey heard that he attacked her from behind and struck her repeatedly with a metal warning triangle before carrying her unconscious from the path and strangling her.
Mr Justice Sweeney called the murder “savage”, adding: “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.”
He branded Selamaj, who refused to attend court for the sentencing and face Ms Nessa’s bereaved family, “cowardly”.
Mr Justice Sweeney said the victim was “an amazing role model who defied all norms, strove to be independent and was powerful, fearless, bright and an amazing soul”.
“She died in a way that no one should, and that will torment them all, and Sabina’s friends, for the rest of their lives,” he told the court.
“It is a striking feature of the defendant’s case that, clearly deliberately, it is not suggested by him that he has any remorse for what he did to Sabina Nessa.”
Selamaj, 36, had driven from his hometown of Eastbourne to Kidbrooke, south-east London, on the evening of 17 September.
Investigators have not established why he selected the area, which he had no connection to and is not known to have previously visited, for the murder.
After arriving in Kidbrooke, Selamaj went to a local Sainsbury’s and purchased a rolling pin, before realising that the metal warning triangle from his car boot was “a better weapon”, prosecutors said.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who led the investigation, said he believed that Selamaj had resolved on committing a murder and that Ms Nessa had the “misfortune of crossing paths with him”.
“He was in that park for 22 minutes in a predatory manner – hood up, skulking in the shadows, looking around – and unfortunately Sabina was effectively his first opportunity,” he told a press briefing. “It was a premeditated, sexually motivated murder.”
The court heard that there was “no definitive pathological evidence” of a sexual assault but that it could not be ruled out.
Earlier on the day of the murder, Selamaj had checked into the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, where staff had called police after becoming suspicious of his behaviour.
Officers did not attend the hotel following a 101 call, where staff said he was behaving strangely and lived only a short distance away.
Selamaj, who was born in Albania and moved to the UK in 2017, was not previously known to police and had no cautions or convictions.
Following the murder, his wife told officers that she had been the victim of domestic violence, including throttling, and she had fled their home in fear for her life.
On the day of the killing, Selamaj asked to meet her in his car, and then tried to convince her to have sex while appearing “agitated”.
His wife refused and left the vehicle, at which point Selamaj drove off. He initially headed towards Brighton and spent around half an hour in the area, where prosecutors believe he was “trawling” for a sexual encounter.
He then changed direction and drove towards London and into Kidbrooke. After shopping in Sainsbury’s he walked into Cator Park and loitered for more than 20 minutes before seeing Ms Nessa.
The Old Bailey was played CCTV footage of him walking past her, turning and running up from behind to launch the vicious and prolonged attack.
After murdering Ms Nessa, he attempted to conceal her body using grass and disposed of the warning triangle in a river on the drive back to Eastbourne.
Selamaj stayed in the Grand Hotel after the murder and went to work at a garage the following day as if nothing had happened, police said.
He was identified after police used CCTV to trace his path out of Cator Park and to his car. The number plate was identified using a trawl of traffic cameras and found to be registered to Selamaj’s name and address.
He did not answer police questions in interviews and has not explained his motive.
In a statement read to the court, Ms Nessa’s parents, Abdur Rouf and Azibun Nessa, said their world had been “shattered into tiny pieces”.
Addressing Selamaj, they said he was “not a human being” and condemned his refusal to answer questions or give evidence.
“You had no right to take our daughter’s life away and no right to touch her,” he added. “Not knowing why you carried out this murder will remain on our minds.”
Lisa Williams, the headteacher of Rushey Green Primary School, said children and staff had been left “distraught and distressed” by the murder.
“Sabina had a lifelong career ahead of her which was taken away through this senseless murder,” she added. “The school has lost an incredibly talented teacher, and the teaching profession lost an inspiring individual destined to have a lasting impact on so many young lives.”
The murder followed several killings of women by strangers in London since the start of the Covid pandemic, including the murders of Sarah Everard, sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, Maria Rawlings and Therasia Gordon. Several of the victims were murdered in or near parks.
DCI John said that women and girls in London should feel safe anywhere in public or at home, at day or night, and that Ms Nessa “had every right to feel safe walking through the park”.
He said the Metropolitan Police would continue “relentless efforts to identify those that carry out these crimes and bring them to justice”.
