Sabina Nessa: Teacher killed on walk to meet friend

Sabina Nessa was killed on a "five-minute" walk to meet a friend at a pub, police believe.

Officers said the 28-year-old teacher was attacked as she walked to The Depot bar in Kidbrooke Village, south-east London, from her home on Astell Road at about 20:30 BST last Friday.

Her body was found by a member of the public in Cator Park the next morning.

Police have launched a murder inquiry, and a man was arrested and released under further investigation.

A vigil is due to be held in Ms Nessa's memory on Friday evening.

Det Insp Joe Garrity said: "Sabina's journey should have taken just over five minutes but she never made it to her destination.

"Our investigation is making good progress and specialist officers remain at the crime scene carrying out intensive searches and enquiries.

"We know the community are rightly shocked by this murder - as are we - and we are using every resource available to us to find the individual responsible."

Ms Nessa's cousin Zubel Ahmed has previously said she was a "beautiful soul" and appealed for help to find whoever was responsible for the "horrific crime".

He said her parents were "absolutely shocked" and "inconsolable still, understandably so, to hear of their daughter being taken away from them by some cowardly man".

Describing his cousin, Mr Ahmed said she "was the most caring person - kindest, sweetest girl you could meet".

"She's been teaching for two years. Loves teaching, loves kids, she's got a couple of cats at home. She was just a beautiful soul."

The area where she was found remains cordoned off and flowers have been left at the site.

Information sheets advising women on how to stay safe at night have been handed out by a community group in response to the death.

The handout suggests pedestrians stick to busy places with good lighting.

Royal Greenwich's Safer Spaces team has been distributing personal alarms to women.

The borough have issued over 200 alarms to women and vulnerable residents over the last two days particularly in the Kidbrooke area.

Advice on the sheet, printed from the Met Police website, also includes the suggestions that pedestrians should face oncoming traffic and conceal their jewellery.

Friday's vigil has been organised by a Kidbrooke community group.

It is being supported by Reclaim the Streets who said it was angry and heartbroken" by the killing and called on the government to do something about "an epidemic of violence unfolding in front of our eyes".

Ms Nessa, who was originally from Sandy in Bedfordshire, lived in Lewisham, south-east London.

She had been a year one teacher at Rushey Green Primary school in Catford for about a year.

A post-mortem examination into the cause of the 28-year-old's death was inconclusive, the Met said.

A man in his 40s who was arrested on suspicion of murder was later released.

Officers have asked for any potential witnesses to contact them, and for drivers to check dash-cam footage they might have.