Zara Aleena‘s killer, Jordan McSweeney, who confessed to the murder, had the minimum term of his life sentence reduced. Three appeals judges cut his sentence short from a 38 to 33-year term on Friday, November 3, 2023, as per The Standard. The court ruled that the judge who originally sentenced him was wrong to increase his minimum term, citing the victim’s “inordinate suffering.”
The outlet stated that McSweeney sexually assaulted and beat Aleena to death in east London one June night in 2022. He reportedly kicked and stamped on the latter, a 35-year-old law graduate. Moreover, the killer had been released from prison on license nine days before the incident. His previous crimes ranged from burglary to assault and racial offenses. Moreover, he had 28 convictions for 69 crimes, dating back to 2006.
Zara Aleena’s killer Jordan McSweeney had his minimum 38-year term reduced to 33
According to BBC, Jordan McSweeney brutally attacked Zara Aleena on Cranbrook Road in Ilford. The assault lasted nine minutes and resulted in her suffering 46 separate injuries. Zara Aleena was walking back home from a night out by McSweeney, a sexual predator released from prison on license, murdered her in June 2022.
The outlet reported that McSweeney admitted to the 35-year-old’s murder and sexual assault. However, he refused to attend his December sentencing hearing. The judge handed him a mandatory life sentence in which the killer would have to serve a minimum of 38 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
The Standard stated that the convicted murderer made a bid to reduce the minimum term of his sentence during a hearing last month. Following this, three Court of Appeal judges found that the sentencing was too high an “uplift” to the minimum term. They moved to cut short the increased term to 33 years to life in prison.
Reportedly, before cutting short McSweeney’s term, the Court of Appeal heard that the killer’s original sentence was a minimum of 43 years. It had been reduced to 38 years in exchange for his guilty pleas.
