Jailed, PCs who took photos of dead sisters
TWO policemen were jailed yesterday for photographing the bodies of two murdered sisters and sharing the images on WhatsApp.
Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, could have contaminated the crime scene and allowed the killer of Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, to walk free, the Old Bailey heard.
The sisters were stabbed to death last June by Danyal Hussein, 19, who is serving life.
Their mother Mina Smallman, a retired Church of England archdeacon, described the constables’ behaviour as a ‘sacrilegious’ act. ‘It made me think of the lynchings in the Deep South of the USA where you would see smiling faces around a hanging dead body,’ she said.
Mrs Smallman said she was thrilled with the 33-month sentences handed to the pair. But she added: ‘There’s more work to be done – because of the sentencing we are part of the change that is going to come in the culture of the police force. Most of our police do an amazing job but there is an element that has taken over how they banter. I’m hoping this sends a signal to the Metropolitan Police and all other police forces.’
Jaffer and Lewis, who have been sacked by the Met, were meant to be guarding the crime scene at a park in Wembley, north London.
They left their posts to take pictures of the bodies and shared them with other officers and members of the public, using the phrase ‘dead birds’ in messages.
Passing sentence, Judge Mark Lucraft QC said: ‘It is clear that the two of you acted without any thought as to the effect on the two women, their families or the wider public interest.’
Both had admitted misconduct.