A prison workshop instructor has pleaded guilty to engaging in an “inappropriate relationship” with Zara Aleena’s murderer.
Hayley Jones, 33, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court, where she admitted misconduct in a public office between 6 March and 7 April 2023 while she was working at Belmarsh prison.
The charge states her “inappropriate relationship” with Jordan McSweeney “amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust”.
McSweeney, 31, is serving a life sentence for the murder of 35-year-old law graduate Ms Aleena, who was killed as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London.
Jordan McSweeney is serving a life sentence for the murder of Zara Aleena. Pic: Met Police
He was jailed for a minimum term of 38 years in December 2022 after admitting to the sexual assault and murder of Ms Aleena in the early hours of 26 June 2022, nine days after he was released from prison for a previous offence.
But he won a Court of Appeal bid in November 2023 to reduce the minimum term of his life sentence to 33 years.
Zara Aleena was murdered in June 2022. Pic: PA
McSweeney is charged with encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence over the relationship and faces trial in April 2026.
He is yet to enter a plea to the charge and did not appear by video link from Long Lartin prison, in Worcestershire, as officers said he is having difficulty walking.
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Judge David Miller adjourned Jones’ sentencing for pre-sentence reports.