The tragic case of Zara Aleena’s brutal murder and how her killer was brought to justice will be featured in an award-winning Sky Crime documentary.

Forensics: Catching the Killer tells the stories of nine murder cases, each one resolved thanks in part to the role of forensic science.

In each episode, a single case is unpacked in detail to discover how the forensic work helped catch a killer.

A feature 60-minute episode is set to be broadcast on Monday (December 11) regarding the case of Ms Aleena, who was sexually assaulted and killed in Ilford as she returned home after a night out in the early hours of June 26, 2022.

Featuring interviews with the senior Metropolitan Police detective who led the case and the fingerprint expert who analysed the sole print found at the murder scene, the story will be retold of how the killer was found and brought to justice as well as the effect the crime had on the whole community.

Ilford Recorder: Jordan McSweeney, who murdered Zara Aleena Jordan McSweeney, who murdered Zara Aleena (Image: Met Police)

Law graduate Zara had been out with a friend in the centre of Ilford, and left to walk home around 2am while her friend took a taxi.

CCTV footage showed that after leaving a bar, Ms Aleena walked up the High Road and onto Cranbrook Road in the direction of Gants Hill Station.

Jordan McSweeney, who followed and killed the 35-year-old in a bloody attack which lasted over nine minutes, has recently had his minimum term of his life sentence reduced.

At a sentencing hearing that the Dagenham man refused to attend last December, McSweeney was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years after he admitted murdering and sexually assaulting Zara.

But on November 3 this year, three judges at the appeal court in London allowed McSweeney’s appeal, finding that the sentencing judge had imposed too high an “uplift” to the minimum term, replacing it with a life sentence with a minimum term of 33 years.

The Old Bailey previously heard McSweeney stalked Zara along Cranbrook Road before grabbing her from behind and dragging her into a driveway.

The attack, caught on grainy CCTV, lasted nine minutes and resulted in 46 separate injuries.

Zara, who was training to be a solicitor, was found struggling to breathe and later died in hospital.

The Forensics: Catching the Killer episode of Zara Aleena will air on Sky Crime on Monday (December 11) at 9pm.