Having been charged with murder, robbery, and attempted rape in connection with the savage slaying of the 35-year-old in Ilford early on Sunday morning, Jordan McSweeney made an appearance in Thames Magistrates’ Court today.
As the accusations were read out this afternoon, the defendant simply spoke once to confirm his name before turning to look at the ground.
Zara was struck in the back of the head soon after two in the morning as she went along Cranbrook Road, and the court heard how this caused her to have severe brain injuries.
In addition to beating Zara, according to prosecutor Varinder Hayre, McSweeney tried to have sex with her thereafter and took her handbag, phone, and house keys.
This lunchtime, McSweeney showed up in the dock in Bow. He appeared at the quick, five-minute session in a grey tracksuit with no plea entered.
He was remanded in custody and refused bail to appear in court on July 27 at the Old Bailey.
Some of Ms. Aleena’s friends and family members who were present in court were inconsolable as they listened to the case’s specifics.
“On June 26 on Cranbrook Road [Ilford], you murdered Zara Aleena,” the judge reprimanded McSweeney.
You took Zara Aleena’s keys, phone, and handbag on the same day at the same place.
The murder suspect was sent to the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) by the court since all of the charges against him were indictable offenses.
You are kept in detention until a bail hearing.
According to the Metropolitan Police, Ms. Aleena was attacked in the busy Cranbrook Road and suffered significant head injuries before passing away.
Neighbors in the area were alerted by her screams, and they immediately dialed 999.
Immediately after arriving on the scene, paramedics started CPR and continued it for two hours.
At roughly 4.30 am, Ms. Aleena was taken to the hospital. A short while afterwards, she was pronounced dead.
Her devastated family released a statement today, calling the past three days “shocking and incomprehensible” and praising Ms. Aleena as “everyone’s friend” and “pure of heart.
” She also “placed her party shoes in her luggage” and “walked everywhere” because “she believed that a woman should be able to walk home,” they added.
She had aspired to be a lawyer since she was five years old.
Ms. Aleena’s situation is chillingly similar to that of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard, who were both murdered while returning home in the capital last year.
She is the 16th woman in London and the 52nd woman in the UK to be killed by a man in 2022.
When discussing Ms. Everard’s case with a friend, Miss. Aleena allegedly exclaimed, “That won’t happen to us,” before sadly meeting the same end.
This coming Saturday, there will be a vigil for Ms. Aleena, and mourners intend to walk from the scene of her attack to her nearby house.
Participants are urged to wear white and maintain a “silent and somber” atmosphere as they work to “bring her back to where she belonged securely.”
Relatives today called Zara, who looked after her mother and grandmother, as “the pillar in our family.”
She was a joy to all of us, with her sparkling eyes and curling, jet-black hair, they stated in a statement.
Her wonderful laugh and her charming, happy voice. Her petite frame radiated an unbreakable vigor and drive.
She was genuine and didn’t try to impress anyone, but she still made an impression on us.
Our family’s rock was she. Zara maintained her composure and never voiced any complaints. She held our neighborhood together.
Nobody worked more diligently than Zara, according to everyone who knew her.
Zara was content and in a stage of life where her joy was overflowing.
She walked everywhere, they continued. She packed up her party shoes and put on her sneakers. She walked.
A lady should be able to walk home, according to Zara. Her plans to start a family have now been cruelly destroyed.
The family proclaimed, “We must halt and prevent violence against women and girls,” calling the past few days “terrible” and “unimaginable.”
A store owner who wished to remain unnamed claimed that police had obtained video from his CCTV camera for their inquiry.
It is awful what happened to that young woman, he said.
Because I want to do everything in my power to help solve this terrible murder, I sent the police the footage.
People who live nearby claim to have recorded film from 2.13am and submitted it to police.
‘From the footage you can see a woman coming down the road and then a male follow around 10-feet behind her,’ a man who lives in Cranbrook Road and who recorded the other video told MailOnline.
She accelerates, and he follows suit as they both move in the direction of Gants Hill. From Ilford, they had been ascending Cranbrook Road on foot.
“The video has been seen by the police, who have removed it.
“At around two in the morning, my kid reported hearing a woman yell. There were a few screams, but otherwise nothing.
“People are constantly shouting at all hours of the day where we live on a reasonably busy road.”
The cops who arrived to collect the video informed us that the man had begun stalking the woman near Valentines Park’s entrance.
At 2.20 am, Ms. Aleena passed away.
A marked police car had just passed four minutes ago as Ms. Aleena was strolling along the sidewalk.
When the Met Police car passed Ms. Aleena at 2.16 a.m., neither its emergency lights nor siren were activated, indicating that it was not responding to an emergency call.
It happens at the same time as Sabina Nessa’s sister yesterday shared her sorrow over the loss of Ms. Aleena, who became the 52nd woman in the UK and 16th woman in London to be slain by a man in 2022.
Jebina Nessa joined the demands for more action to be taken to end male violence against women after her sister was killed last year when she was walking to the bar in Kidbrooke, south-east London.
“My heart goes out to her family,” she said. There are no words that can adequately express the loss.
Lisa Hodgson, a close friend of Ms. Aleena, has disclosed that they had planned to meet this weekend but changed their plans to the next weekend.
Miss your gorgeous face this weekend xx can’t wait to see you next weekend xxx, Ms. Aleena had texted on Friday.
Lisa expressed yesterday that she was “very shattered… I’m stunned. I’m enraged. I’m nauseous to my stomach.
“We were together most weekends.” We were supposed to meet this weekend, but I had to cancel, so we made plans to meet the following weekend. I wished we had connected over the weekend.
She expressed her sorrow about never seeing or hearing from daughter in a moving Facebook post, adding: “To the man who murdered Zara may he get tortured in prison.
“I want to ask him why, staring him in the face. For Zara Aleena, justice. When will our city’s streets be secure?
There is a need for action! There must be action taken. You may now rest in peace, sweet angel.
There are flowers and cards that have been left at the crime scene.
Best friend I could ever have asked for, according to one tribute, was xxxx.
I will miss everything about you, including your smile, the way you thought while biting your bottom lip, and our nights out, when we ate burgers on a step and laughed endlessly.
I adore you to the moon and back, another person wrote.
Ms. Aleena received praise from the University of Westminster, which described her as a “kind and gentle” woman who “often went out of her way to help others.”
The unprovoked attack is already being compared to the killings of marketing manager Sarah Everard, 33, and teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, both of whom were killed while walking alone in London.
They were both victims of opportunistic murderers who picked them at random.
Nadia, a 42-year-old schoolteacher and Ms. Aleena’s friend, said: “Nothing like that has ever happened here.
She just decided to walk home because it was close by.
She wanted to borrow some heels and mascara that night, but I was too busy to pick up the phone.
She had a kind heart and wouldn’t harm a fly. She had recently graduated from law school and was employed in the heart of London.
She desired a legal career in order to support her family and herself.
The family was saddened, according to Ms. Aleena’s cousin, who described her as a “bubbly, high-empathy person.”
Her eagerness to borrow a pair of high heels and mascara for a night out that ended tragically was remembered by friends.
According to her cousin, who begged not to be identified, Ms. Aleena was employed as an administrative officer at the Royal Courts of Justice while she looked for a trainee solicitor position that would allow her to pursue a legal career.
He said, “She was a great lady.” The family is in such shock. She aspired to become a successful lawyer so she could provide for her family.
She was a pleasant, empathic person who was always cheerful and brought life to the room.
She was highly devoted to her family and took care of her mother and grandmother.
In Ilford, northeast London, not far from her house, Ms. Aleena was reportedly found severely assaulted at around 2.44 am, according to Scotland Yard.
She was taken to the hospital by paramedics, but soon after, she passed away from her wounds.
Locals said a helicopter had been flying over the neighborhood since 3 a.m. as police searched for Ms. Aleena’s killer.
Mustafa Meric, 56, said that the neighbor of his son’s friend had surveillance footage of the assault that he had sent to the police.
He said, “It’s hardly the safest of places.” I worry about my wife and children. For the time being, I’ve told them to cease coming out late.
The Met has stated that combating violence against women and girls is an absolute priority.
Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell of Scotland Yard. Our officers collaborate with partners all throughout the capital every day to increase safety in our public areas.
Women should not be required to alter their behavior and should be free to conduct themselves as usual at whatever time of day or night without fear of harm.
Our responsibility is to see to it that this occurs, but officers cannot always be present.
I would implore our community, particularly women, to report any suspicious or unwanted behavior and to get assistance if threatened.
Ms. Aleena received a law degree from the University of Westminster in October of last year, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She was looking for a paralegal or trainee solicitor post even though she has been employed at the Royal Courts of Justice since May.
Sam Tarry, the Labour representative for Ilford South, stated: “It appears to be a random attack.
“This is unusual in a lot of ways. The local government and the Met are doing everything they can to protect the populace and apprehend the offender.
“We will stop at nothing to honor this woman who lost her life in the most heinous way,” the group said.
We want our community to be fearless and to go about their regular lives, he continued.
There will be a deluge of police officers on the streets, so people do need to be comforted.
People should not be intimidated or cowed into submission, yet it is inevitable that they will feel fear.
“I would advise people to examine their dashcams and cameras, as any slightest clue could help,”
Nearby resident Rafia Ahmed said she and her pals will only go for nighttime walks together.
It scares you because it is actually on our doorstep. She told the BBC, “As a woman, you hesitate to go out alone.”
Kuldip Singh, a shopkeeper, expressed his worries about the degree of violence in the neighborhood.
This one was quite harsh, he remarked. Although it was a young woman, nobody seems to feel as secure here as they once did.
“You could be in danger” if you were a woman or an old person crossing this route during the winter.
Subhash, 60, a resident in the area off Cranbrook Road, expressed his “concern” for other female residents.
It’s not just my daughter, he remarked; other daughters, girls, and women in the neighborhood are also affected.
How safe are you in your own neighborhood is a very serious topic.
‘We are horrified and very saddened by the news that our former Law School student and graduate, Zara Aleena, has lost her life in such a horrible fashion,’ a university spokesman for Zara said.
At this terrible moment, our sympathies are with Zara’s family and friends.
“Zara received both the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice and the LL.B with Honors in 2011 and 2021, respectively.
All of her teachers have positive memories of her. She was a charming, kind, and open young lady who is well-liked by both faculty and fellow students.
She frequently went above and above to assist people.
‘We have pastoral support available for our students and colleagues affected by the tragic news.’