Garage Worker Struck Primary School Teacher 34 Times Before Strangling Her in Park, Pleads Guilty

A garage worker has pleaded guilty to murdering primary teacher Sabina Nessa, as she walked through a park in Kidbrooke, south-east London, on Sept 17 last year.

Koci Selamaj admitted to beating and strangling the 28-year-old teacher, whom he did not know.

The 36-year-old drove from his home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, all the way to London to carry out "a predatory attack on a stranger", the court heard.

He lurked around Cator Park in Kidbrooke, for half an hour before targeting Nessa, who was on her way to meet a friend at a bar.

The teacher’s lifeless body was found nearly 24 hours later covered in the grass near the OneSpace community centre, LT had reported.

"Our initial enquiries suggest that this attack happened at around 20:30hrs on Friday, 17 September, a time when the park was likely being used by many people from dog walkers to joggers," Detective Chief Inspector Joe Garrity from the Specialist Crime Command had said.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC said the killing was carried out with "extreme violence".

The court heard about CCTV footage that showed Selamaj running towards Nessa and striking her 34 times using a 2ft long metal traffic triangle, before carrying her away unconscious.

The weapon "appeared to break up during the course of the many strikes on the deceased", Morgan told the court.

The prosecution alleged that Selamaj then strangled the victim in what was suspected to be a sexually-motivated attack.

He was then seen picking up "pieces of the weapon that had broken on the ground" before heading back to the area where the victim’s body was dumped.

He disposed of the weapon in a river and was then seen using wipes to clean a bench. He then returned to Eastbourne, where he stayed the night at the Grand Hotel and checked out in the morning.

Selamaj, an Albanian national, was arrested and charged on Sept. 26, 2021, nine days after the primary school teacher’s body was discovered with her tights and underwear removed and parts of her body exposed.

He pleaded guilty to the murder at a hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday, Feb. 25. He is due to be sentenced on April 7.