The family of law graduate Zara Aleena who was murdered by a violent misogynist last June has accused the government and the probation service of being responsible for the loss of life.
“They have blood on their hands,” Aleena’s aunt Farah Naz said after a watchdog revealed the Probation Service “incorrectly assessed” the killer Jordan McSweeney before his release from jail.
“The probation service has a big part to play in Zara’s murder, they have a responsibility here”, she told the Guardian.
“Government bears responsibility too, it is not just the probation service,” she said.
Aleena was walking home in Ilford in London on June 26 morning when the racist, who was on probation, approached her from behind and dragged her into a driveway before launching a “ferocious and repetitive" attack on her.
She died at a hospital on the same day and McSweeney who pleaded guilty to murder and sexual assault was sentenced to life imprisonment in December.
Justin Russell, the chief inspector of probation, said in his damning report that the Probation Service failed to consider him as a “high risk of serious harm offender,” despite his history of violence.
Because of the wrong assessment, McSweeney could walk free to commit the heinous crime on the 35-year-old woman, the report said.
“McSweeney should have been considered a high risk of serious harm offender” and such an assessment would have led to “more urgent action to recall him to prison after he missed his supervision appointments on release from custody,” it said.
He had been known to the criminal justice system since 2005 and imprisoned many times before he killed Aleena. Having displayed violent and racially aggravated behaviour, he had been subjected to a restraining order for an offence against a woman in 2021.
“All the evidence shows that McSweeney should have been assessed, on release from prison, as high risk of serious harm. Instead, he was incorrectly assessed as being of medium risk because each of the offences, his behaviours in prison, and his criminal history, had been reviewed in isolation” the report said.
It went on: “Following his release from prison and successive appointments being missed, the Probation Service failed to take prompt action to recall him to custody”.
The report also highlighted the workloads the probation staff are experiencing and the high rate of vacancy rates.
‘They have blood on their hands': Family blames government and Probation Service for Zara Aleena’s murder
Jordan McSweeney, who was on probation following his previous offences, killed the law graduate in London in June last year.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)