'I don't think we'll ever reclaim the streets': Shelagh Fogarty despairs after murder of Zara Aleena

15 December 2022, 15:49 | Updated: 15 December 2022, 16:12

After Jordan McSweeney was sentenced to a minimum of 38 years for the murder of Zara Aleena, Shelagh Fogarty asks how we can control and contain "feral, violent, out of control men" like Jordan McSweeney.

Shelagh Fogarty spoke to listeners after 29-year-old Jordan McSweeney was jailed for life, after murdering Zara Aleena, despite his refusal to appear in court.

He had spent the night of the murder searching for women to attack - having hunted four others - and chanced upon Zara on a residential street in East London, just 10 minutes away from her home.

Before speaking to Jamie Klingler, founder of the social justice organisation Reclaim These Streets, Shelagh told listeners how "disturbed" she was by the Zara Aleena case.

Shelagh said: "I don't think we'll ever 'Reclaim These Streets'"

"But I applaud every effort to do so, I just don't think we will ever be able to do so.

"Certainly not as long as the laws in this country fail to contain feral men.

"Feral men who tell you every waking day that violence is the way that they communicate... And that is Jordan McSweeney."

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Read more: 'Spineless' killer jailed for life for murdering Zara Aleena with 'a savagery that is almost impossible to believe'

Shelagh continued: "Inevitably, he had a history of domestic violence as well included in his litany of behavior so we know what's going on and we know what's not happening that should be happening."

She then asked listeners how we control and contain "feral, violent, out of control men like Jordan McSweeney?"