A prison worker who had an illicit affair with the man who murdered law graduate Zara Aleena has been jailed for nine months.
Mum-of-one Hayley Jones, 34, was investigated after a colleague spotted her holding hands with Jordan McSweeney, 31, and talking ‘with their faces very close together’ inside HMP Belmarsh in April 2023.
A review of CCTV footage in the maximum-security prison found the pair had been kissing and touching on a ‘daily basis’ for more than a month.
McSweeney boasted of ‘f***ing the fat thing in the workshop’ in a letter later intercepted by police.
He wrote they had been having sex for 10 months and also bragged about her supplying him with contraband.
Woolwich Crown Court heard interactions caught on CCTV included ‘playing games involving the prisoner, him riding on a trolley which you pulled, embracing, kissing, the prisoner touching you, your hair, your ear, your neck, which he pretended to throttle’.
He was also seen ‘touching [Jones] in the area of her prison keys’.
”It is not known what took place off-camera, save to say that there is footage of both of you emerging from an off-camera area adjusting your clothing,’ Judge David Miller said.
McSweeney was jailed in 2022 for life with a minimum term of 38 years for sexually assaulting and murdering Ms Aleena, a sentence later reduced to 33 years on appeal.
He dragged her into a driveway where he repeatedly kicked and stamped on her with a ‘savagery that is almost impossible to believe’, jurors at his trial were told.
He had followed five other women around the streets of Ilford, east London, before becoming ‘fixated’ with Zara as she walked home from a night out.
Jones had been working at Belmarsh as a workshop instructor since 2019, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
McSweeney was transferred to Belmarsh in 2022 and later given an ‘orderly job’ which allowed him to ‘roam around … freely’, lawyers for Jones said.
Polly Dwyer, prosecuting, said ‘Concerns were raised about the relationship when Ms Jones and Mr McSweeney were reported by an individual within HMP Belmarsh – an employee of the prison service – on 5 April 2023, who witnessed the defendants holding hands.
‘Ms Jones and Mr McSweeney were seen with their faces very close together (and) on seeing him they parted.
‘Ms Jones queried whether she had anything on her forehead and Mr McSweeney walked away quickly.
‘The individual who made a report, on entering the workshop area, heard one of the prisoners say something along the lines of: ‘it looks like they like each other.”
Ms Dwyer said that CCTV footage covering the indictment period showed ‘inappropriate interactions between Ms Jones and Mr McSweeney on a daily basis..’
Rosalie Myttas-Perris, defending, questioned why a prisoner with a ‘history of aggression and violence, including towards prison officers’ such as McSweeney was given a prison job.
‘It is always Mr McSweeney who initiates the inappropriate interactions’, she said, adding: ‘Ms Jones previously reported him for making her feel uncomfortable, no actions were taken – I don’t say that as an excuse.
‘No doubt she went along because unfortunately it is an easy thing to do – he has shown an interest in her, he was paying her compliments and sharing things with her, and sadly she didn’t report it as she should have and no doubt that’s a regret that will remain with her for the rest of her life.
‘She accepts full responsibility and relays her sadness, regret and shame about what happened and how it impacted the victims, the community, the prison service and indeed her own family.’
But Judge Miller, sentencing, said: ‘There appears to be an established and obvious mutual fondness generally involving smiles, laughter and physical intimacy.
‘There is absolutely no sign that this was unwanted by you or that the prisoner was imposing himself on you, as you gave every indication that you were enjoying the relationship.
‘You appear to be fully complicit in it, for example making signs to one another to avoid anything inappropriate being seen by another.
‘You were clearly aware that what you were doing was inappropriate.’
The court heard Jones would serve ‘no more than half’ her sentence in prison and will be subjected to supervision for one year after release.
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