Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

A London teacher was killed on a walk to the pub, police say. Another tragedy in the UK's gender violence epidemic

A London teacher was killed on a walk to the pub, police say. Another tragedy in the UK's gender violence epidemic

Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old teacher from south London, is believed to have been murdered on the five-minute walk from her house to a pub, police say, sparking renewed outcry about the UK's epidemic of violence against women and girls.

London's Metropolitan Police has arrested a 38-year old man on suspicion of the murder.

In a statement on Thursday, the Met said the suspect had been arrested at an address in Lewisham. "He was taken into custody where he remains," the statement read.

Earlier in the day, the Met said Nessa had left her home in the borough of Greenwich just before 8:30 p.m. on September 17. Detectives believe that she was walking through Cator Park toward a bar in Pegler Square, where she had planned to meet a friend.

Police are also searching for another man in connection with Nessa's murder, having released a picture of him and of a silver vehicle they believe he has access to.

Nessa is thought to have been murdered on her journey through the park, the Met statement said, with her body found the following afternoon, close to a nearby community center.

"Sabina's journey should have taken just over five minutes but she never made it to her destination," Detective Chief Inspector Joe Garrity said, adding: "We know the community are rightly shocked by this murder -- as are we -- and we are using every resource available to us to find the individual responsible."

Garrity has appealed for anyone in the area of the park around the time of the attack to come forward.

Zubel Ahmed, Nessa's cousin, told ITV News on Wednesday that the family is still in shock, and that the news of her death has left them "devastated" and "inconsolable."

Nessa, who taught at a primary school in Lewisham, southeast London, was "truly the most kind, caring person out there," Ahmed said. "I don't understand how someone can do this, I really don't. It's a big, big loss to our family," he said.

Epidemic of violence against women


Nessa's death comes six months after the UK was left reeling following the assault and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.

Everard went missing after leaving a friend's house in Clapham, south London, on March 3. Her body was found a week later, more than 50 miles from where she was last seen. Her killer, a serving police officer, pleaded guilty to her kidnap, rape and murder.

Everard's story prompted an outpouring across social media from women sharing their own experiences of sexual assault and harassment, catapulting the UK's damning record on violence against women and girls into the national spotlight.

More than 200 women were killed between March 2019 and 2020 in the UK, according to data from the Office for National Statistics and the Scottish government.

One woman is killed by a man on average every three days in the UK, according to data from the Femicide Census, an organization that tracks violence against women and girls. The group argues that the government's new strategy to curb such violence "shamefully ignores" victims of femicide.

Following Nessa's death, many are pointing out that little has changed. In a message posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Women's Equality Party leader Mandu
Reid said: "The media have been asking today: have things gotten better since Sarah Everard's murder? The answer is NO."

Reid added that the "muted" reaction from the press and a "lack of public outcry" for Nessa -- a woman of color -- "demonstrates, once again, that not all victims are treated with the same respect and reverence."

In the wake of Everard's murder, the UK media's problematic relationship with diversity and race was again put under the spotlight. Many activists and social media users drew a comparison between the coverage of Everard's killing and the death of a 21-year-old Black business student, Blessing Olusegun, which garnered little national media attention. Olusegun's body was found on a beach on England's south coast in September 2020. Her "unexplained" death was not treated as suspicious by local police.

On Thursday, Greenwich Council told CNN that they had handed out 200 personal alarms to women and vulnerable residents in the borough this week "following the horrific murder of Sabina Nessa."

The small device can be attached to keys and handbags or held, and activate a loud alarm in the event of an attack, a Greenwich Council spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the alarms have been distributed at events since 2019.

But women shouldn't have to be on the defense. A report from a police watchdog in July said that "radical," cross-sector reform is needed to protect women and girls from an "epidemic" of crime.

Police should make the "relentless" pursuit and disruption of perpetrators a priority, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services said.

From 2008-2018, 1,425 women were killed by men, according to Femicide Census data. The majority (62%) of those murders were committed by a woman's current or former partner, while 15% of women were killed by men that they knew. One in 12 (8%) of those murders were by strangers.

Speaking on the Good Morning Britain program on Thursday morning, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said "we have to give this issue the same seriousness we give other issues," adding that it was time to "make misogyny a hate crime."

A vigil, organized by the group "Reclaim These Streets" will be held for Nessa on Friday at 7 p.m. at Pegler Square in Lewisham.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×