Justice for Zara: A Call for Accountability and Change

When Zara was murdered on 26 June 2022, our lives changed forever.

In the days that followed, a man was arrested and later admitted responsibility for Zara's murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey in December 2022. The sentence mattered.

Standing outside the Old Bailey, I said:

"Today’s sentencing protects the public from a man who cannot and must not live freely in the world. His extreme indifference both to Zara's life and to the law makes him a very dangerous man." I meant every word.

The sentence protected the public. It recognised the seriousness of what had happened. It acknowledged the danger he posed.

For that, we were grateful.

Yet even on that day, justice felt complicated.

When we learned that Zara's murderer would not attend his sentencing hearing, we were surprised this was permitted. We understood why courts must be able to proceed in the absence of an offender. Justice cannot be prevented simply because someone refuses to attend. But we wanted him there.

We wanted him to hear our victim impact statements. We wanted him to hear what he had done to our family. We knew not to expect remorse. We knew he might not react. Yet we wanted the opportunity to speak for Zara directly to the man who had taken her life.

His absence felt wrong.

It felt as though he was exercising one final act of control. Sentencing is part of the justice process. It is a moment that will never be repeated. A moment where shame, guilt or remorse might be felt. A moment where victims may feel that justice is taking place.

We had some retribution. But no peace.

Over the following two years, our family entered a world we knew nothing about. We met lawyers, investigators, politicians, police leaders, probation officials and ministers. We attended meetings, reviewed reports and tried to understand how a dangerous offender came to be free when he should have been in custody.

A number of independent investigations examined the circumstances leading up to Zara's murder. These included a Serious Further Offence Review, an investigation by HM Inspectorate of Probation and reviews by the agencies involved.

The work leading up to the inquest took many months.

In June 2024, almost two years after Zara's murder, a four-week inquest examined the actions of the agencies responsible for managing the offender before Zara was killed. The jury heard evidence from prison, probation, police and local authority witnesses. At the conclusion of the inquest, the jury found that Zara's death had been contributed to by failures across multiple state agencies to share intelligence, accurately assess risk and act in a sufficiently timely and coordinated way.

The Coroner subsequently issued Prevention of Future Deaths reports to a number of organisations.

Our family also received an apology from the national head of the Probation Service, acknowledging the failings that had been identified and the devastating consequences that followed.

There was a solemnity in the courtroom as the findings were delivered. The weight of what had been heard over many weeks was felt by everyone present.

In some ways, it felt as though we had finally been heard.

The failures had been recognised.

The truth had been placed on the public record. Yet as we left court, another truth remained.

Zara was still gone. We had findings. We had answers to some of our questions. We had accountability.

We had an apology.

But none of it could bring Zara back.

Justice matters. Truth matters. Accountability matters.

Justice for Zara

The work leading up to the inquest took many months.

The failures had been recognised.

But they cannot return the person you love.

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