Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman: Mother calls for Met overhaul
- Published
Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman were found in bushes at Fryent Country Park in Wembley
The mother of two murdered sisters whose bodies were photographed by police officers called on Dame Cressida Dick to "get the rot out" of the Met.
Two Met Police officers admitted taking and sharing photographs of the murder scene of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in a park in Wembley.
PC Deniz Jaffer, 47, and PC Jamie Lewis, 33, also admitted distributing the images over WhatsApp.
Dame Cressida apologised to Ms Henry and Ms Smallman's mother Mina Smallman.
Jaffer and Lewis were assigned to protect the site of the murder overnight in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London on 8 June.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation found they instead breached the cordon to take "inappropriate" and "unauthorised" photographs of the bodies.
PC Jamie Lewis (left) and PC Deniz Jaffer have been warned to expect custodial sentences
Jaffer took four photographs and Lewis superimposed his own face onto a picture with the victims in the background.
The IOPC found Lewis "used degrading and sexist language to describe the victims at the crime scene he was protecting".
Both officers admitted misconduct in a public office.
'Shoddy' response
Speaking after the Old Bailey hearing, the sisters' mother Mina Smallman said: "You need to drill down and get the rot out once and for all.
"You are not above the law, you are not going to be protected."
She criticised the Met chief for her "shoddy" response to her officers' actions, saying: "It's now time for them to take the can for it.
"You know you go to London to start to prepare the funeral of your dead children and then you're forced to have a meeting with the IOPC and the then commander, to tell you that police officers that should have been protecting the area had actually taken selfies and sent them out to a dentist and a doctor and a WhatsApp group.
"There's details of this whole incident that we cannot share with you, but they will come out in time," she added.
Mina Smallman: "Police officers that should've been protecting the area had actually taken selfies"
Ms Smallman who has previously condemned the officers as "Despicable 1 and Despicable 2", was at the Old Bailey for the hearing, where Judge Mark Lucraft QC granted Jaffer and Lewis conditional bail.
She thanked the IOPC and one of its staff in particular, who had been "horrified and almost in tears" about what had happened.
Judge Lucraft, who will be sentencing them next month, warned the constables: "These matters are extremely serious and you should be under no illusions when you return for sentence it is extremely likely you will receive custodial sentences, custodial sentences of some length, for your conduct."
The constables were suspended from duty following their arrests on 22 June last year. Jaffer has since left the force.
Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick called the actions of her officers "utterly unprofessional, disrespectful and deeply insensitive".
She said: "Our thoughts today are with the family and friends of Bibaa and Nicole.
"I deeply regret that at a time when they were grieving the loss of their loved ones who were taken in such awful circumstances, they faced additional distress caused by the actions of two police officers.
"I apologised to Bibaa and Nicole's family in June last year and, on behalf of the Met, I apologise again today."
Dame Cressida said the two officers would face "an accelerated misconduct process" to decide if they can keep their jobs.
Ms Henry and Ms Smallman had been celebrating the older sister's birthday before they were killed
Last week, Danyal Hussein, 19, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years for murdering Ms Henry and 27-year-old Ms Smallman.
The sisters had been celebrating Ms Henry's 46th birthday when they were repeatedly stabbed by Hussein, from Blackheath in south-east London.
A search of his bedroom revealed he had made an apparent blood pact with a demon to "sacrifice" six women in six months in order to win the lottery.
'My daughters' deaths not as urgent because of race'
Paul Goddard, from the CPS, said: "PC Jamie Lewis and PC Deniz Jaffer's senseless conduct fell way below that to be expected from police officers.
"These officers were tasked with protecting a tragic crime scene, but instead they violated it for their own purposes, with no regard to the dignity of the victims, or the harm they might do to a murder investigation.
"Their thoughtless and insensitive actions have no doubt caused immeasurable further distress and pain to the heartbroken family and friends of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry who were already left reeling from the loss of their loved ones."
- Published7 July 2021
- Published6 July 2021
