Kate Bex KC interviewed by LBC Radio

Kate Bex KC was asked to provide legal commentary for LBC Radio as an inquest jury found failures by the police, prison and probation services had contributed to the death of Zara Aleena.

Zara was brutally murdered as she was walking home after a night out in East London in 2022. The offender Jordan McSweeney was already known to the Police and Probation services before the murder was committed.

The jury heard evidence that:

• Attempts by the MET to arrest Mr McSweeney post-recall were impeded by a number of factors, including inaccurate data on the recall and a lack of professional curiosity and follow-ups

• Mr McSweeney missed his probation appointment on 17 June 2022, the day he was released, but he was given two further opportunities to attend before he was breached

• Despite the lack of contact, his recall was not initiated until 22 June 2022 and the recall report signed on 24 June 2022. Police were given powers to arrest Mr McSweeney at 4.10pm that day

• In the early hours of 26 June 2022, Mr McSweeney murdered Zara Aleena

• His recently qualified probation worker said Mr McSweeney should have been graded high risk when released from prison

Kate Bex KC provided background information on the role of a jury in the inquest and the failures across multiple agencies. She observed:

“This wasn’t a failure at the court or criminal justice stage, it was a number of failures before that; so prison, probation, police but it is the same problems; its under-resourcing, people spread too thinly, not enough priority given to it (as the criminal justice system) and unfortunately and tragically it results in this sort of outcome.”

Listen from 00:40:15: [Global Player LBC]