A coroner has warned the Metropolitan Police and the Probation Service that the failures that led to the sexual assault and murder of aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena could happen again.
The area coroner for east London, who oversaw Ms Aleena’s inquest in June, Nadia Persaud, has instructed the Probation Service and Metropolitan Police to improve their services after sexual predator Jordan McSweeney was able to stalk and kill Zara Aleena just days after his release from prison.
Future deaths could occur unless action is taken, she warned.
McSweeney killed the 35-year-old law graduate as she walked home from a night out in Ilford in the early hours of June 26, 2022, nine days after he was released from prison.
Low staffing levels, poor understanding around risk assessment and a ‘lack of professional curiosity’ within the Probation Service were all listed as matters of concern, as was a lack of ‘rigour, detail and independence’ of a Met investigation into the case, the coroner concluded.
Ms Persaud has sent a copy of her report to the chief probation officer, the Justice Secretary, the commissioner of the Met, the head of Redbridge Council and the Home Secretary.
Law graduate Zara Aleena was 35-year-old when she was stalked, sexually assaulted and murdered by Jordan McSweeney in Ilford in the early hours of June 26, 2022
Sexual predator Jordan McSweeney had been released from prison just nine days before he murdered Ms Aleena
They must respond to the prevention of future deaths report by September 20, outlining what actions they will take to improve.
Farah Naz, Ms Aleena’s aunt, said ‘her brutal murder could and should have been prevented’ following the conclusion of an inquest which found failures by multiple agencies contributed to her death.
The inquest’s jury found ‘Zara’s death was contributed to by the failure of multiple state agencies to act in accordance to policies and procedures – to share intelligence, accurately assess risk of serious harm, (and) act and plan in response to the risk in a sufficient, timely and co-ordinated way’.
Damning findings by the chief inspector of probation, published last year, set out a catalogue of errors by probation officers before McSweeney carried out the brutal attack on the aspiring lawyer.
In her prevention of future deaths report published on Friday, Ms Persaud said the probation delivery unit responsible for managing McSweeney had been ‘understaffed’.
Staffing levels were at 61% in 2022, and 58% at the time of the inquest in June 2024, she said.
‘The inquest heard that this is a national problem and that there are other probation delivery units that have even lower levels of staffing,’ the coroner said.
‘The low staffing level had an impact upon quality and depth of assessments; quality of supervision of junior staff; excessively high workloads for probation officers and senior probation officers; lack of cover during annual leave for probation officers, and poor record keeping.’
Farah Naz, Ms Aleena’s aunt, said ‘her brutal murder could and should have been prevented’ following the conclusion of an inquest which found failures by multiple agencies contributed to her death
The inquest’s jury found ‘Zara’s death was contributed to by the failure of multiple state agencies to act in accordance to policies and procedures’
Understanding around risk assessment was ‘poor’ within the service, Ms Persaud’s report added.
‘There was a lack of professional curiosity and a lack of sufficient probing into information relevant to risk,’ she said.
‘A restraining order had been put in place against the offender, but this was not highlighted, as it should have been.
‘Key staff involved in assessing and managing the offender were unaware of the restraining order.’
Ms Persaud also questioned the lack of ‘rigour, detail and independence’ of a Met police investigation of its own handling of the case.
The coroner said: ‘An independent, rapid investigation was carried out by the Directorate of Professional Standards.
‘Despite the very limited time to complete the review, the DPS officer reached clear and valuable findings. The findings of the DPS investigator were however rejected by more senior officers within the Met.
‘The officers who rejected the findings were not independent. This lack of independence is of concern.’
Family and friends take part in a silent vigil on June 25, 2023, to mark the one year anniversary of the death of Zara Aleena
A still image taken from Metropolitan Police body worn camera footage of McSweeney being arrested at 15.45 on 27 June, roughly 36 hours after he attacked on Ms Aleena
Ms Persaud also raised concerns around a possible ‘societal acceptance’ of stalking behaviour.
At least two other members of the public were followed by McSweeney before he attacked Ms Aleena, but this was not brought to the attention of the emergency services.
‘The members of the public appear to have seen the offender and appear to be aware that he was following them,’ she said.
‘I am concerned that there is a societal acceptance that such conduct does not need to be reported.’
Copies of the report have also been sent to the chief coroner, to the family of Ms Aleena, and to the local director of public health, the coroner said.
In a statement released in June, Ms Aleena’s aunt said her family remain ‘devastated by our enormous loss’.
Ms Naz added: ‘Zara should be alive today.
‘Her brutal murder could and should have been prevented. It is clear from the evidence we have heard that there are significant issues of under-resourcing across the system.’
Responding to the report, a Probation Service spokesperson said: ‘We apologise for the unacceptable failings in this case.
‘We have taken significant steps to address the failings previously identified, including mandatory training to improve risk assessments and implementing new processes to ensure the swift recall of offenders.
‘We are also recruiting 1,000 new trainee probation officers to deliver robust supervision and protect the public.
‘We will review this report carefully to identify any further actions which we need to take.’
