The murderer of Zara Aleena, killed while walking home in east London, has allegedly been caught having sex with a prison worker.

Jordan McSweeney is serving a 33 year sentence for Aleena’s murder, and is currently being held in Belmarsh prison. Belmarsh is one of only three high-security prisons in England and Wales.

In June 2022, Zara Aleena was walking home in Ilford, east London, when she was sexually assaulted and murdered by Jordan McSweeney. Farah Naz, the aunt of the murdered law graduate, said she is ‘deeply troubled’ by the news of McSweeney’s conduct in prison.

Two months into McSweeney’s sentence, an alleged relationship between McSweeney and a  prison worker is said to have begun. The Independent reported that the 32-year-old female prison worker who was detained in April 2023 was not a prison officer, but was employed in another capacity.

If found to be having inappropriate relationships with prisoners, prison staff may be charged with misconduct in public office. The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had been made aware of an allegation of ‘inappropriate conduct’ involving a serving member of staff at Belmarsh.

In 2022 prison workers in HMP Lincoln were accused of having inappropriate intimate relationships with prisoners and in 2023 a total of 18 women working at HMP Berwyn have been sacked or resigned after crossing relationship boundaries with prisoners.

Ms Naz spoke to Radio 4 this week: ‘Why was a self-confessed sexually motivated murderer, allowed proximity to a female worker lacking training and capacity for such situations?’.

In light of the ongoing investigations, HM Prison Service stated that it was aware of the reported occurrence but would not comment further.