Murder of Sabina Nessa

Sabina Nessa was a 28-year-old primary school teacher who taught at Rushey Green Primary School in Lewisham, south east London. Born in 1992 or 1993, she was raised in Sandy, Bedfordshire, with her older sister. She graduated in sociology from the University of Greenwich in 2014 and completed a PGCE at the University of Bedfordshire in 2020, and had made plans to spend some time teaching in the United Arab Emirates. Koci Selamaj, born in 1985 in Albania, was living in Eastbourne, East Sussex, at the time of the offence and had worked at a garage and as a delivery driver.

On the evening of 17 September 2021, Selamaj checked into The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, having booked a one-night stay earlier that week, then drove his Nissan Micra to London. He was recorded on CCTV on foot in Cator Park, Kidbrooke, Greenwich, at around 20:00 BST. At 20:30, Nessa left her home on Astell Road, Kidbrooke, for what was intended to be a five-minute walk to meet a friend at a pub in Kidbrooke Village. While she was walking through Cator Park, Selamaj struck her unconscious with a blunt instrument, described as a traffic triangle, and dragged her into bushes, where she was strangled. Selamaj was seen leaving the area at around 21:00 and drove back toward Eastbourne, stopping near Tunbridge Wells, Kent, to dispose of the traffic triangle in the River Teise, before arriving back at his hotel shortly after midnight. Nessa never arrived at the pub but was not reported missing that night; a dog walker found her body under vegetation in Cator Park at 17:30 on 18 September 2021.

On 23 September 2021, police in Lewisham arrested an unnamed 38-year-old man on suspicion of murder. Three days later, Selamaj was arrested in Eastbourne on suspicion of murder after being identified through CCTV footage of the attack, and he was charged with murder on 27 September 2021. He appeared via videolink at the Old Bailey on 30 September 2021, where the court heard that a post-mortem examination had been inconclusive as to the cause of death. On 16 December 2021, Selamaj pleaded not guilty to murder while admitting he was responsible for Nessa's death. On 25 February 2022, at the start of his trial at the Old Bailey, he changed his plea to guilty. On 7 April 2022, Selamaj was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years, meaning he will not be eligible to be considered for parole until 30 April 2057; he was not in court to hear his sentence.

Nessa's death initially received limited media coverage; a viral Instagram post by journalist Katrina Mirpuri highlighting this gap is credited with helping to spur wider reporting and public pressure over violence against women. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan described violence against women as a national "epidemic," and commentators compared the case to the killings of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in 2020 and of Sarah Everard in 2021, amid concerns that killings of women of colour were still taken less seriously by police. Nessa's sister, Jebina Yasmin Islam, said some senior officeholders had offered little support to the family. Vigils were held in several cities, including a rally at the East London Mosque attended by faith leaders, women's groups, and local politicians, and a candle was lit at 10 Downing Street. In 2022, Islam was named one of the BBC's 100 Women in recognition of her campaigning for women's safety.