Sabina Nessa: Man admits murdering south-east London teacher

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering primary school teacher Sabina Nessa.

Koci Selamaj beat and strangled the 28-year-old as she walked through a park in Kidbrooke, south-east London, on 17 September.

Ms Nessa had left her home to meet a friend at a bar when she was targeted by Selamaj, who was said to have travelled to London to carry out "a predatory attack on a stranger".

The 36-year-old admitted a charge of murder at the Old Bailey on Friday.

He is due to be sentenced on 7 April.

Ms Nessa had been walking through Cator Park during the evening of 17 September when she was attacked and killed by Selamaj, who did not know her.

At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Alison Morgan QC described how the Albanian national drove to London from his home in Eastbourne to carry out what she described as "a premeditated and predatory attack on a stranger".

The killing was carried out with "extreme violence", Ms Morgan said, adding that the murder involved a sexual or sadistic element.

The court heard that CCTV showed Selamaj had spotted Ms Nessa and checked to see if there was anyone else around.

He then ran towards his victim and struck her 34 times using a metal traffic triangle, before carrying her away unconscious and strangling her in the park.

Selamaj disposed of the weapon in a river on his way back to Eastbourne.

The court heard he had previously been violent towards his former partner, putting his hands around her throat in a strangling motion.

Ms Nessa's body, which was covered in grass, was discovered the following day with her tights and underwear removed and parts of her body exposed.

Ms Morgan said: "Some of her movements through the park and the attack on her were captured on CCTV footage.

"The male shown on that CCTV footage is alleged to be this defendant."

Three days before, Selamaj put his plan into action by booking a room at the five-star Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, the town where he already had accommodation.

His reservation was for the night of 17 September and he arrived earlier in the day to check in.

Selamaj spoke to hotel staff and was captured walking through the lobby wearing the same clothes as the suspect later spotted on CCTV in Kidbrooke.

His Nissan Micra was tracked by ANPR cameras and evidence was gathered to identify his movements from Eastbourne to London.

The defendant entered Cator Park shortly after 20:00 BST and lay in wait for 30 minutes before Ms Nessa arrived.

Ms Morgan said: "The defendant is seen in effect loitering in locations around the park before spotting the deceased, checking to see if anyone else was nearby before turning and running after her.

"He is then seen to move towards the deceased and striking her repeatedly using a weapon which was approximately 2ft in length."

She added that the weapon "appeared to break up during the course of the many strikes on the deceased".

"The CCTV footage shows the defendant then carrying the deceased, who appeared to be unconscious by that point, up a bank and effectively out of sight."

Selamaj's actions afterwards were out of camera shot, but Ms Nessa was not seen alive again.

The prosecutor said: "The male did appear after 10 minutes.

"He is seen to pick up pieces of the weapon that had broken on the ground and then moved back to the area the deceased was located for another 10 minutes."

Shortly before 21:00, Selamaj was seen using wet wipes to clean a bench.

He then returned to Eastbourne, staying the night at the Grand Hotel and checking out in the morning.

Selamaj was arrested on 26 September in Eastbourne.

In a police interview, he made no comment except to deny murder when asked directly if he was responsible for killing Ms Nessa.

In December, a lawyer for the defendant confirmed that he accepted being the person caught on CCTV and that he had hit Ms Nessa a number of times, although Selamaj still denied murder at that point.

The killing of Ms Nessa heightened concern for the safety of women and girls in the capital following the stranger murders of Sarah Everard, and sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

In the days after the teacher's death hundreds of people joined a vigil in Kidbrooke, with her family leading tributes.

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