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Sabina Nessa’s killer Koci Selamaj told his dad he wants to fly home to Albania to serve his sentence, but needs to finish some medical treatment in the UK first
The killer of Sabina Nessa is hoping to return to his native Albania, to the fury of his victim’s family.
Koci Selamaj told his dad he wants to fly home to serve his sentence, which could be possible due to a new deal between governments. Sexual predator Selamaj was jailed for at least 36 years for murdering primary school teacher Sabina, 28, in a London park in September 2021.
He is in high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor. His dad Bashkim, 75, says his son told him he wants a transfer but needs to finish some medical treatment first. He says the killer told him: “I want to come home but I still am not well, I need further treatment. I have to think about when I will fully recover from the problems I have.”
Britain has struck a deal with Albanian premier Edi Rama to allow some jailed convicts to finish their sentences back home. But today Sabina’s sister Jebina Islam, 33, says “coward” Selamaj should be forced to serve his time in a UK jail.
She told us: “He did the crime here and so he should serve his entire sentence here. I couldn’t care less if his family wants him back in Albania, or he wants to serve his time there to be closer to them and make it easier for himself – he killed my sister.”
Selamaj, 36 at the time, refused to turn up for his sentencing at the Old Bailey in 2022 to hear the judge’s damning comments and face Sabina’s heartbroken family. Jebina said: “It’s like he’s still in power. He wants an easier, reduced sentence, it’s as simple as that. The families should be prioritised, not this animal.”
On the day of Sabina’s murder, Selamaj, who was living in Eastbourne, Sussex, booked into the town’s Grand Hotel, where his estranged wife worked. He tried to persuade his wife to have sex with him, but she rejected him.
He drove 70 miles to London and hid in bushes in a park in Kidbrooke, South East London, waiting for a random target. Sabina was walking through the park to meet a friend at a pub on September 17.
CCTV showed Selamaj smashing a steel traffic sign over Sabina’s head. She was hit 34 times before being dragged into long grass where Selamaj removed her tights and underwear and strangled her.
Her murder sparked national outrage and raised further concerns about women’s safety following the killing of Sarah Everard months earlier. Garage worker Selamaj has never offered an explanation for why he launched the ferocious attack.
After three years of begging his son to see him, Bashkim finally had a prison showdown in the secure unit in Berkshire in December. Revealing details of their meeting, he said of his son: “He was lost in his world. Most of the time his hands were shaking due to his health problems.
“It was hard for me but I asked him why he killed an innocent woman. Koci said to me, ‘I do not remember anything at all about what I have done and why I did’. Then he put his head down, not wishing to talk any further.”
Last year Selamaj had his life sentence extended for stabbing a prison guard. He attacked two officers with broken porcelain after smashing his cell toilet. One guard was wounded in the knee and arm in the assault at HMP Frankland, Co Durham, in 2023. A colleague who ran to help was punched in the face.
Selamaj apparently told his dad: “In my mind I had the idea they came to kill me. What I did was to defend myself. Now that my health is getting better I realise what I did was wrong. That’s why I admitted guilt in court.” The Ministry of Justice was contacted for comment.
