Killer of Zara Aleena tells judge he ‘can’t be bothered’ to face court as he cowers in his cell for second time

25 September 2024, 16:17 | Updated: 25 September 2024, 16:30

The killer of Zara Aleena has refused to appear in court for a hearing over an alleged "inappropriate relationship" with a prison workshop instructor.

McSweeney was previously handed a life sentence and jailed for at least 38 years after admitting sexually assaulting and murdering 35-year-old law graduate in Ilford, east London, in June 2022.

He did not appear for the sentencing of his crimes to Aleena and refused to come out of his cell.

At the time, 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."

On Wednesday, the murderer failed to appear via video link at Woolwich Crown Court because he "can't be bothered", staff at HMP Long Lartin told the court.

The defendant was due to attend alongside Hayley Jones, 33, who has been charged with acting in a way "which amounted to an abuse of the public's trust".

A member of staff at Long Lartin told Judge David Miller via video link: "I despatched an officer at 13:30 to collect him from his prison cell.

"At 13:40 I got a message saying he had refused to attend because he can't be bothered".

Judge Miller asked the member of staff "Is that a quote?", to which they responded "Yes".

He added: "If he continues to refuse to engage with proceedings then proceedings will go ahead in his absence.

"He must be reminded about the consequences of not being bothered to engage next time."

The member of prison staff told the court McSweeney had also refused to sign failure to attend documents.

McSweeney and Jones have been accused of having an inappropriate relationship at HMP Belmarsh.

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Jones, of Strood in Kent, who appeared in person on Wednesday, is accused of misconduct in a public office between March 6 2023 and April 7 2023.

McSweeney has been charged with encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence.

No pleas to the charges were entered during the short hearing.

The case has been adjourned until October 31.

McSweeney killed 35-year-old Ms Aleena as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London, in the early hours of June 26 2022.

He was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years at the Old Bailey in December 2022 after admitting sexually assaulting and murdering her.

In November 2023, he won a Court of Appeal bid to reduce the minimum term of his life sentence to 33 years.

Zara had been spending the evening with her friend and had passed on a taxi to walk home.

Her family has said she preferred walking and believed women should be allowed to walk and be safe.

The attack lasted for almost 10 minutes. It was clear she struggled and fought him but he managed to overpower her in a brutal attack caught on CCTV.

After the killing, CCTV captured McSweeney returning to a caravan on a fairground, where police recovered Ms Aleena's bloodstained clothes.

When he was arrested, he refused to answer any questions in a police interview but told officers he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and split personality disorder.

While in custody, he was also said to have threatened police officers.

The court was told McSweeney was a prolific offender and had been released from prison on licence on June 17 – just days before the murder.

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.