Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

More CCTV of Zara Aleena's last movements have been played in court.

Oliver Glasgow KC says as Aleena approached the junction where Northbrook Road meets Cranbrook Road, Jordan McSweeney emerged.

"It is clear from the footage that he appears to start walking south towards Ilford but on seeing Zara Aleena he pauses, waits for her to walk past, and then crosses the road so that he is not behind her," the prosecutor says.

"Jordan McSweeney starts to follow Zara Aleena – this must be the moment that he has decided to attack her."

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

We're about 45 minutes into Oliver Glasgow KC's opening and he is now speaking about Zara Aleena and her movements on the night she was killed.

The 35-year-old was with her friend Bhamini Bati that evening and they spent the first part of their night out at The Great Spoon of Ilford pub having some food and drinks.

After leaving the pub, the friends went to nearby Champs Sports Bar and stayed there until just before 02:00.

Mr Glasgow adds: "Whilst they were there, Zara Aleena drank only water.

"At the end of the night, Bhamini Bati, who had booked a taxi, was collected from outside the venue."

Aleena walked home along Ilford High Road and then onto Cranbrook Road.

Image source, .BBC

Having arrived home, Bati called Aleena’s mobile at 02:03 but Aleena did not pick up, Mr Glasgow says.

Bati then saw a missed call from Aleena's mobile at 02:09 and called her back at 02:18, again receiving no response.

Mr Glasgow adds: "Bhamini Bati then sent a WhatsApp message at 02:20 which read ‘Y home hun?’ to which there was no reply.

"The reason for the lack of any reply is that by that time, Zara Aleena had been attacked."

For many, Zara's death represents a wider issue of violence against women and girls.

Several women's charities have come out in support of the demonstration outside the Old Bailey this morning, as the sentencing hearing continues inside the building.

The End Violence Against Women coalition, a group of over 100 support services, charities and activists, demands “answers about missed opportunities to prevent her murder and urgent action to stop this happening again”.

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Jordan McSweeney then spent 50 minutes walking up and down Cranbrook Road, the prosecutor says.

Just before 02:00 he saw a fourth young woman who was walking alone.

Oliver Glasgow KC says: "He walked quickly up behind her and, whilst she was seemingly oblivious to his presence, two men on the other side of the road stopped and watch him.

"His behaviour is clearly alarming - he is after all walking only a metre or two behind this woman - but the pair of them turn out of sight into Northbrook Road and the two men walk off."

The woman was "aware of the danger" she was in as she repeatedly looked over her shoulder, Mr Glasgow says.

"Jordan McSweeney who is on the opposite pavement gesticulated towards her with his arms, as if to indicate that he did not mean her any harm.

"Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth."

The woman entered a property and McSweeney walked back in the direction he had walked.

Mr Glasgow reiterates again: "It is beyond dispute that that young woman had a very lucky escape since, had she been caught, by Jordan McSweeney, she would have been attacked and killed."

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Showing more CCTV to the court, Oliver Glasgow KC says Jordan McSweeney pursued a second woman close to 00:30 on 26 June.

The prosecutor says: "She was inside a takeaway restaurant – Samiz Chicken Shop – and he went inside, took a seat.

"He started to stare at the woman and, as he did so, he put his hand down the inside of the front of his trousers."

When the woman left the restaurant a few minutes later, he started to follow her, the prosecutor says.

Mr Glasgow adds: "She is completely unaware that he is behind her but fortunately for her, his attention becomes distracted by another woman.

"Just as before, it is beyond dispute that that young woman had a very lucky escape since, had she been caught, by Jordan McSweeney, she would have been attacked and killed."

A third woman then catches McSweeney's eye, so he abandons his attention on the one he spotted inside the chicken shop and he directs his focus on the woman who he then puts an arm around.

That woman also walked away, Mr Glasgow says.

Helena Wilkinson
reporting from the Old Bailey

A reminder that McSweeney has refused to come up from the cells for his sentencing hearing.

We are now watching clear CCTV footage on screens around the courtroom of McSweeney in the hours before he murdered Zara.

As the footage is played of McSweeney following another woman, Zara Aleena’s family have their eyes fixed on the screen in front of them.

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

More from the prosecution on Jordan McSweeney's movements after he was kicked out from the Wetherspoons pub in Ilford.

Oliver Glasgow KC says shortly after midnight McSweeney walked towards Forest Gate and ended up walking behind a woman who was evidently concerned about what he was doing.

"She looked over her shoulder several times to see where he is," he says.

CCTV is played to the court showing McSweeney following the woman along Romford Road and into a small supermarket - the Kapadokya Food Centre.

Footage shows McSweeney, wearing a grey vest and blue denim jeans, leaving the shop and continuing to follow the woman as she leaves Kapadokya.

He emerges from a hiding place and then the woman turns a corner picking up a pace to run away from McSweeney.

The pursuit lasted about 15 or 20 minutes, Mr Glasgow says.

"It is beyond dispute that that young woman had a very lucky escape since, had she been caught, by Jordan McSweeney, she would have been attacked and killed."

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Oliver Glasgow KC is now going into more detail about what happened on the night Jordan McSweeney killed Zara Aleena.

He says McSweeney had been drinking in The Great Spoon of Ilford Wetherspoons pub with a friend Kevin McKenna.

According to Mr McKenna, a lot of alcohol was consumed and the pair had a "heavy night".

Mr Glasgow adds: "It is evident from the available CCTV footage that Jordan McSweeney was interested in pursuing any possible romantic liaison that he could, irrespective of whether or not the recipient of his attention was similarly inclined."

Subsequent CCTV is played in the court showing McSweeney outside with a woman, he puts his arms around her but appears to be pushed away.

Mr Glasgow continues: "Just after 23:00 BST, Jordan McSweeney was ejected from the premises.

"The reason for his being asked to leave was that he had made persistent advances towards one of the female bar staff and made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Despite her making it clear that she was not interested, he kept returning to the bar and kept pestering her."

Helena Wilkinson
reporting from the Old Bailey

As the prosecutor Oliver Glasgow KC lays bare the horrific details about what McSweeney did to Zara Aleena, her family are listening carefully.

It’s impossible to imagine what they must be thinking.

One of them closed her eyes and then looked up to the ceiling as Mr Glasgow KC described how Zara was brutally attacked as she walked home alone.

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Oliver Glasgow KC talks about Zara Aleena, saying she was a law graduate who had recently started work at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

The prosecutor has now given a bit more background about Zara Aleena's murderer.

He says Jordan Clive James McSweeney is 29 years old and has 28 previous convictions for 69 offences dating back to 2006.

"These range from racially motivated offences to driving offences to assault on a police officer, battery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm," Oliver Glasgow says.

McSweeney had been released from custody on 17 June, but his licence was then revoked on 24 June due to poor behaviour and failing to attend appointments with his probation officer.

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Finishing the summary of his opening remarks Oliver Glasgow says Jordan McSweeney walked back the caravan where he was living and the following morning.

He says: "Having hidden the bloodstained clothes and shoes he had been wearing during the attack, he was seen laughing and joking with his friends; seemingly without any concern for what he had done or for the fate he had forced upon Zara Aleena.

"His predatory pursuit of women, and his violent sexual assault and vicious murder of Zara Aleena were caught on various CCTV cameras.

"Thus, the police were quickly able to identify him and arrest him. His attitude upon arrest and in interviews reveals that his behaviour on the night of 26 and 27 June was not an aberration.

"He was violent towards the officers who had dealings with him, he threatened to assault the officers who worked in the custody suite, and he told the officers who interviewed him that they were boring him."

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Warning: Details in this post contain upsetting details about the case

Turning to the police investigation, Oliver Glasgow KC says detectives quickly identified their prime suspect - Jordan McSweeney.

Mr Glasgow says that on the night he killed Zara Aleena, McSweeney left a pub in Ilford and then "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," Mr Glasgow says.

"There can be no doubt that they were lucky to have escaped unharmed."

He continues by saying Aleena was tragically not so lucky as McSweeney approached her from behind, grabbed her around the neck and dragged her into a driveway.

Mr Glasgow describes the attack on Aleena as "savage" and one which is "almost impossible to believe".

He says McSweeney kicked and stomped on her, sexually assaulted her and then attacked her again, returning several times to "continue the brutal violence".

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow KC is now on his feet and is taking the court through what happened in Ilford in the early hours of the morning of 26 June.

"Zara Aleena had been found bleeding profusely, struggling to breathe, partially naked and with severe head injuries," he says.

Members of the public administered first aid until paramedics arrived who then spent an hour on Cranbrook Road giving Ms Aleena life-saving medical treatment.

She was rushed to Royal London Hospital - around nine-and-a-half miles away from where she was attacked.

Mr Glasgow adds: "Despite best efforts to save her life, Zara Aleena’s injuries were too severe, and her life was pronounced extinct at 09:58 on 26 June 2022.

"The cause of death was compression to the neck and blunt force to the head."

Helena Wilkinson
reporting from the Old Bailey

On hearing that McSweeney is still refusing to come up to court, Zara Aleena's family listened intently at what the judge had to say about it. One of them started shaking her head. The prosecutor has now started opening the case.

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

After that brief break we are now back to the sentencing.

Jordan McSweeney is once again a notable absentee.

Despite the judge's encouragement, McSweeney's defence barrister George Carter-Stephenson KC says the 29-year-old is refusing to come into court.

"I have spoken to him in the cells, he does not wish to come up into court," he says.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb says McSweeney cannot be returned to prison and she expects to pass sentence later this afternoon.

Helena Wilkinson
reporting from the Old Bailey

Zara’s aunt Farah Naz is sitting opposite us on one of the court benches.

Either side of her are other family members. They have a clear view of the glass dock.

For them, the wait to see if McSweeney will come up from the cells to face them, to face justice, must be agonising.

Thomas Mackintosh
reporting from the Old Bailey

Image source, Julia Quenzler

For an offence of murder a life sentence is mandatory.

But, what the judge needs to decide is the amount of time Jordan McSweeney must serve in prison before being considered for release - this is sometimes referred to as the tariff.

According to the sentencing guidelines for a guilty plea, McSweeney will be entitled to a reduction in the tariff - but no more than a third.

Now, depending on the facts of the offence, the starting point for the minimum time served in prison for an adult ranges from 15 to 30 years.

Having set the minimum term, the judge will then take into consideration any aggravating or mitigating factors which may amend the minimum term either up or down.

Aggravating factors which may increase the minimum term can include a significant degree of planning or premeditation; any previous convictions, and the mental or physical suffering inflicted on the victim before death.

Mitigating factors which may reduce the minimum term can include an intention to cause serious bodily harm rather than to kill, and the age of the offender.

The full legislation can be found here, external.

Helena Wilkinson
reporting from the Old Bailey

We've just heard the jangle of keys - an officer has just come up into the dock.

It looks like the judge is about to come back into court.

We still don't know if McSweeney will be at his sentence hearing.

Helena Wilkinson
reporting from the Old Bailey

McSweeney's barrister is now back in court.

We are just waiting for the judge to come back in to find out if McSweeney decides to come up from the cells so the hearing can start.