Prison worker who had jail affair with Zara Aleena killer admits illicit relationship

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A prison worker has admitted having an "inappropriate relationship" with Jordan McSweeney - the man convicted of the murder of Zara Aleena.

Hayley Jones and McSweeney were an item between March 6 and April 7 last year, at HMP Belmarsh, in London, it emerged at a court hearing today.

Jones admitted misconduct in a public office over the relationship with McSweeney when she appeared in the dock at Woolwich Crown Court.

The 33-year-old, of Strood in Kent, is accused alongside McSweeney, who also faces charges of encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence over the relationship.

But the 31-year-old did not appear in court, either in person or by video link, and no plea was entered for his charges. The court heard that he was "having difficulty with walking".

He therefore could not make his way to the link room, according to staff at at HMP Long Lartin, Worcestershire, where he is serving his sentence.

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The Mirror reports a provisional trial date for McSweeney has has been set for April 13, 2026, when he will appear at the same court for a further hearing.

Meanwhile Jones was released on bail and she will be sentenced at a later date, which has yet to be fixes. A pre-sentence report was ordered ahead of this next hearing.

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.

The Old Bailey handed him a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years in December 2022 after he admitted sexually assaulting and murdering her.

The minimum term of his life sentence to 33 years in November 2023 when he won a Court of Appeal bid to have it reduced. CCTV footage recovered from the night of the murder shows Jordan McSweeney following two lone women.

He tailed them for prolonged periods in the early hours of the morning - the first for 20 minutes until she ran down a side street and entered a house, and a second who also managed to get away.

He then spotted Ms Aleena who was walking home alone after an evening with a friend. She was found just after 2:30am on a pavement close to her home, she was badly beaten, partially naked and struggling for breath.

A woman gave her CPR until paramedics arrived but Ms Aleena died in hospital later that morning. Law graduate Zara sustained 46 injuries in the brutal sexual attack that lasted nine minutes.

CCTV showed McSweeney, a fairground worker with a record of 69 offences, shows him climbing a fence to Valentine's Park after the attack where the funfair was set up after the sickening attack.

He had been recalled to jail two days before for missing probation appointments, having just been freed on licence. Police went to his house to arrest him but could not locate him only a few hours before the murder.

He refused to attend his trial and the judge who jailed him for 39 years at the Old Bailey in December 2022 called him a "deeply violent man" who had no remorse.

Last October, appeal judges reduced the sentence to 34 years. He had walked out halfway through the hearing, saying he had "heard enough".

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