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Ex-Met police officers jailed for sharing photos of murdered sisters on WhatsApp appeal sentence

Both men have pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office

Zoe Tidman
Wednesday 11 May 2022 11:19 BST
Deniz Jaffer (left) and Jamie Lewis were jailed after sharing crime scene photos of the murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman (Victoria Jones/PA)
Deniz Jaffer (left) and Jamie Lewis were jailed after sharing crime scene photos of the murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

Judges are set to consider an appeal from two former Metropolitan Police officers sent to jail for taking and sharing photos of murdered sisters at a crime scene.

Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were sentenced last year over images of the bodies of 46-year-old Bibaa Henry and 27-year-old Nicole Smallman bodies taken at the northwest London park where they had been stabbed to death.

Both men - who had been sent to guard the area in Wembley - were jailed for two years and nine months after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office.

Jaffter, who resigned from the force, and Lewis, who has been dismissed, are now set to appeal their sentences.

Judges are listed to consider their cases at a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Wednesday.

Two police officers were jailed after sharing WhatsApp images of the bodies of Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

Ms Henry and Ms Smallman were stabbed to death in Fryent Country Park in north west London in June 2020 after celebrating the older sister’s birthday with friends.

Danyal Hussein - a teenaer who said he had made a “blood pact” with a demon to kill women in return for winning the lottery - was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 35 years for their murders last year.

Jaffer and Lewis, both Met officers at the time, were assigned to guard the scene. They moved from their posts and entered the crime scene to take photographs of the sisters’ bodies - which were found in bushes at the park - and shared them with colleagues and friends on Whatsapp.

Sentencing them last year, Judge Mark Lucraft QC said the men had risked the integrity of the crime scene and “wholly disregarded” the privacy of the victims.

He said their actions could only have been driven by “some sort of cheap thrill, kudos, a kick or bragging rights”.

Jaffer, from Hornchurch in east London, was 47 years old when jailed. Lewis, from Colchester in Essex, was 33 years old.

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