A sexual predator who murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa as she walked alone through a park at night has been jailed for life.
Garage worker Koci Selamaj chased the 28-year-old and bludgeoned her over the head with a metal traffic triangle, before dragging her unconscious body into the undergrowth and strangling her.
The 36-year-old killer had spent the evening looking for a woman to have sex with, having been spurned by his ex-wife, and ended up stalking the pathways of Cator Park in Kidbrooke, southeast London with violence in mind.
Selamaj was branded an “animal” and a “coward” by Ms Nessa’s family after he refused to come to the Old Bailey for his sentencing hearing.
On Friday morning, Mr Justice Sweeney concluded the murder had been sexually motivated by a “predator” as he ordered Selamaj to serve at least 36 years of a life sentence.
“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 people – particularly women – have to live with in our society when walking or travelling alone, especially at night,” he said.
“Sabina’s was a life that mattered, a life that didn’t deserve to be taken in such a heinous and cowardly way.
“She had a right to be walking through the park, all glammed up, and going to enjoy herself after a long week at work. The defendant robbed her and her family of her life.”
The judge concluded Selamaj had targeted Ms Nessa “because she was an attractive young woman on her own”, he may have stolen her underwear as a “trophy”, and said he “took considerable pleasure in what he did”.
The murder of Ms Nessa, on September 17 last year, came six months after the killing of Sarah Everard, highlighting once again the dangers that women can face when walking alone at night.
The year one teacher at Rushey Green Primary School in Catford had set out that evening to meet a friend at the Depot Bar, and decided to cut through Cator Park as she was running late.
She passed Selamaj - armed with the 2ft metal triangle – and chilling CCTV caught the moment he turned around and launched the horrifying attack.
The killer bludgeoned Ms Nessa around 34 times over the head as she tried to fend him off, continuing to deliver sickening blows as she lay unconscious on a park bench.
He then dragged her out of the view of the camera, into the undergrowth, where her underwear was removed and she was strangled.
The judge yesterday asked Selamaj’s lawyer if the killer could explain the murder, but was told: “He will forever remain silent”.
Ms Nessa’s sister Jabina told the absent defendant: “You are an awful human being and do not deserve your name to be said. You are a disgusting animal.”
Branding him a “coward”, she fought back tears before asking: “We just want answers to why you killed her. Why?”
Ms Nessa’s parents Abdur Rouf and Azibun Nessa told Selamaj: “You had no right to take her away from us in such a cruel way.
“The moment the police officer came to our house and told her she was found dead our world shattered into tiny pieces.
“How could you do such a thing to an innocent girl walking by, minding her own business. You are not a human being, you are an animal.”
The court heard Selamaj, who worked in the Esso garage in Lewes, had turned violent in his marriage in the months before the murder.
His ex-wife told police how he had twice grabbed her around the throat, and she left the marriage when fearing for her life.
On the night of the murder, Selamaj had checked into a £325-a-night room at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, apparently hoping to orchestrate a sexual encounter.
He propositioned his ex-wife in the back of his car but she rebuffed his advances, and he spent the evening driving around Brighton and then heading to London in search of a woman.
CCTV caught Selamaj buying a rolling pin in Sainsbury’s, apparently to use as a weapon, before he realised the traffic triangle was heavier.
He had been loitering in the park for nearly half an hour before Ms Nessa walked by, at just after 8.30pm, and he used grass to try to conceal her body after the murder.
Selamaj wiped down the park bench after the killing and threw the traffic triangle into a river in a bid to cover his tracks, but police arrested him a week later on suspicion of murder.
Selamaj stayed silent when questioned by police, but gradually admitted he was responsible for the killing and it had been driven by his desire for sex.
He pleaded guilty to murder and was absent from court as he was jailed for life.
