Two Met Police officers jailed over WhatsApp images of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman

Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were Met Police officers who had been assigned to guard the scene after Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were found dead
Former Met Police officers Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were jailed for two years and nine months after they  after they pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office.Former Met Police officers Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were jailed for two years and nine months after they  after they pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office.
Former Met Police officers Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were jailed for two years and nine months after they after they pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office.

Two police officers who took pictures of murdered sisters for a “cheap thrill” have been jailed for two years and nine months.

Pc Deniz Jaffer and Pc Jamie Lewis were Met Police officers assigned to guard the scene after Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London.

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Instead, they moved from their posts to take photographs of the bodies, which were then shared with colleagues and friends on WhatsApp.

Lewis was dismissed from the force after a misconduct hearing, Jaffer would have been too but he had already quit.

At a glance 5 key points

  • Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were jailed on Monday for two years nine months
  • The police constables were assigned to the scene after sister Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were found dead
  • However they took pictures of the bodies and shared them
  • They also described the victims as “dead birds”
  • Met Police are “horrified” by their “shameful” actions.

One was a “selfie-style” image which Lewis had superimposed his face on.

The officers’ “shameful” behaviour also included describing the victims as “dead birds” on WhatsApp groups.

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Jaffer, 47, of Hornchurch, east London, and Lewis, 33, from Colchester, Essex, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office.

 Sisters Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman.  Sisters Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman.
Sisters Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman.

What happened in the sentencing hearing?

On Monday, Judge Mark Lucraft QC rejected an appeal for the officers to be spared custody, jailing each of the men for two years and nine months.

The judge condemned their “appalling and inexplicable conduct”.

Judge Lucraft said: “The public expects, and rightly so, the highest of standards from police officers.

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“I am sure there will be many thousands of officers in police forces in this country and abroad utterly horrified by your actions.

“It is appalling and inexplicable conduct.

“Here, the two of you not only violated the police cordon with the effect that had on the scene and on the investigation, but then wholly disregarded the privacy of the two victims of horrific violence and their families for what can only have been some cheap thrill, kudos, a kick or some form of bragging right by taking images and then passing them to others.”

What have the victims family said?

In victim impact statements, family members described the defendants as a “disgrace” to the police family and to mankind.

The women’s mother, Mina Smallman, said the officers’ actions were a “betrayal of catastrophic proportions” and a “sacrilegious act”.

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She said: “Jaffer and Lewis callously and without any regard for our dead girls’ bodies committed, to my mind, a sacrilegious act.

“We were told …the police officers whose task it was to protect and preserve the crime scene had, in fact, for their own amusement, took selfies, posing for pictures with our dead daughters.

“We were horrified. I had never heard of anything so macabre.

“Those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable, they felt they would take photos of our murdered daughters. Those officers dehumanised our children.

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She added that the actions of the officers amounted to “pure misogyny”.

Mina Smallman (right), the mother of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry outside the Old Bailey, London.Mina Smallman (right), the mother of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry outside the Old Bailey, London.
Mina Smallman (right), the mother of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry outside the Old Bailey, London.

What was said in court?

The court heard Jaffer and Lewis, neither of whom was wearing forensic protection, were tasked with protecting the scene after arriving at Fryent Park at 3.30am on 8 June last year.

During the night, Jaffer took four pictures of the bodies in situ and Lewis took two, and superimposed his face on a third to create the “selfie-style” picture.

Jaffer sent an inexperienced female colleague photographs of the bodies as they lay intertwined in the bushes, including Lewis’s “selfie”.

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He went on to show images to two other officers, including a female probationary officer he was mentoring, who was “shocked” and “disgusted”.

Lewis showed an image from the crime scene to another female officer on his phone but she could not see it clearly, the court heard.

On June 19 last year, the police watchdog received an anonymous “tip-off” about Lewis, and Jaffer was also arrested three days later.

The defendants were members of a What’sApp group called the “A Team”, comprising 41 Metropolitan Police officers.

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Jaffer was also a member of a WhatsApp group with nine other close friends who had holidayed together.

Lewis posted to the A Team group an article about the discovery of the bodies, saying he and his colleagues were “living the Wembley dream”.

He wrote: “Unfortunately I’m sat next to two dead birds full of stab wounds.”

Jaffer posted on his friends’ group: “I have pictures of the two dead victims. Let me know who doesn’t want to see.”

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Jaffer went on to send a photo of the bodies to three friends, including one who sent it on to his partner.

Lewis sent messages about the case to a third WhatsApp group of seven non-police members.

He told them he was involved in a double murder investigation, wrongly saying the victims were aged 20 and 14 and one was pregnant.

Are they still police officers?

Last month a tribunal found the officers had committed gross misconduct.

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Lewis was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police immediately and Jaffer would have been sacked too, had he not already quit the force.

In mitigation, Neil Saunders said Jaffer felt overwhelming remorse for his “shameful” behaviour.

Former trader and father-of-two Jaffer had suffered from depression and anxiety before the offence and was retraining to be an electrician.

Luke Ponte, for Lewis, said that his case was centred on taking two photographs, having only sent the “selfie” picture back to Jaffer.

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Lewis, who formerly worked for British Transport Police, had described trying to fit in to a “negative culture” within the police.

In October Danyal Hussein, 19, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years for the murders.

The court heard the officers’ behaviour allowed Hussein to put forward the false defence had incriminating DNA evidence could have been contaminated.

What has the Met Police said?

Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball, Professionalism, said: “Our thoughts are once more with the family and friends of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. I am so sorry that during the most difficult time in their lives the actions of these two officers caused them so much additional pain and distress.

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“Today former PCs Jaffer and Lewis have been punished for their actions which were utterly unprofessional, disrespectful and deeply insensitive.

“All of us in the Met and wider policing are horrified by their shameful behaviour.”

Both former officers have been added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing.

Those appearing on the list cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the Independent Office for Police Conduct or Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.

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