Two serving police officers who have admitted taking and sharing photos of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman referred to them as “dead birds” in Whatsapp messages.
PC Jamie Lewis, 33, and Deniz Jaffer, 47, were guarding the crime scene after the sisters’ bodies were found in Fryent Country Park in Wembley in June last year.
It has now come to light that Lewis had sent a WhatsApp message which said: “Unfortunately I’m sat next to two dead birds with stab wounds.”
While Jaffer sent a message in a WhatsApp group saying: “I’m here now I’ll try to take pictures of the dead birds.”
The two men also used a racially derogatory term for Pakistanis in messages about other, unrelated matters it has been reported.
Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball, chairing an accelerated tribunal in west London today (24 November), ruled that both men had committed gross misconduct.
She said: “This was hurtful, dishonest and unprofessional behaviour of the utmost seriousness”
“I am sorry that our officers behaved in such a hurtful, disrespectful and criminal way. Their actions are shameful.” She added.
The tribunal – which neither of the men attended – ruled that the two officers breached six established police standards, including confidentiality and honesty and integrity, as well as authority, respect and courtesy.
Speaking outside the Old Bailey after the two officers’ pleaded guilty to committing misconduct in a public office, the victims’ mother, Mina Smallman, called on the force “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 said, before criticising Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick for her “shoddy way of behaving and her response since all of this has come out”.
