The Times - UK (2021-11-25)

32 Thursday November 25 2021 | the times

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Police officers who described murdered
sisters as “dead birds” and took photo-
graphs of their stabbed bodies had also
used racial slurs in a separate matter.
PCs Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33,
breached standards of professional behav-
iour, Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball
said. The two Metropolitan police officers
admitted this month to taking and sharing
Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were stabbed to death in a park photographs of the scene where the sisters

POLICE/PA

Officers who shared murder

victim photos used racial slur

Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27,

were murdered in June last year in Fryent

Country Park, northwest London.

A disciplinary tribunal found them both

guilty of gross misconduct. It was told that

the officers had made racist remarks and

used the term “P***s” in a WhatsApp con-

versation about a separate matter.

Ball said: “It would be obvious to all that

behaving in this way and being convicted

of misconduct in public office discredits

the police service and undermines public

confidence in it. This was hurtful, unpro-

fessional, dishonest and criminal behav-

iour of the utmost seriousness. Gross

misconduct is proven.’’

Lewis will be dismissed from the Met

immediately. Jaffer had quit the force

before the misconduct hearing yesterday.

Both officers had been told they faced

lengthy prison sentences at their

sentencing next month for miscon-

duct in a public office.

They had been sent to preserve

the crime scene after the sisters’

bodies were found. Jaffer took four

photographs and Lewis superim-

posed his own face on to a

picture that had the victims

in the background.

According to the Inde-

pendent Office for Police

Conduct, Lewis used

“degrading and sexist

language” when describing

the women. Both officers

breached the cordon to take

“inappropriate” and “un-

authorised” pictures of the

bodies, the IOPC investigation

found.

PC Helen Tierney, repre-

senting the Metropolitan

Police commissioner, said

both men had called the victims “dead

birds” and that Jaffer had sent a message

using the term to members of the public.

“PC Lewis said ‘unfortunately I am sat

next to the two dead birds with stab

wounds’, ” she said.

“A minute later PC Jaffer said ‘I am here

we tried to take pictures of the two dead

birds’. At 4.42am PC Lewis sent a superim-

posed selfie-style photograph of himself,

with the victims visible in the background,

to PC Jaffer.”

She added: “PC Jaffer used the term

‘P***s’ in a message to members of the

public. He twice referred to Asian men

using this word in a conversation

about an unrelated public order matter

in a WhatsApp group which includ-

ed members of the public.

“Lewis responded with ap-

proval to another officer’s use

of the word when talking

about the benefits of moving

somewhere else for work.

“The officer said ‘on the

plus side, no P***s’ and PC

Lewis responded ‘exactly’. ”

In October Danyal Hus-

sein, 19, from Blackheath in

southeast London, was jailed

for life with a minimum term

of 35 years for murdering Henry

and Smallman, who had been

celebrating Henry’s 46th birth-

day when they were attacked.

Kieran Gair

Jamie Lewis, right,

and Deniz Jaffer

are facing prison

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