Politic?: Exploiting Public Office for Entertainment

"No one expects their children to die before them but to have two out of three of your children to be murdered on the same night is just incomprehensible."
"[The officers' crimes was a] betrayal of catastrophic proportions. Jaffer and Lewis callously committed, to my mind, 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."
"These police officers felt so safe, so untouchable that they felt they would take photographs with our murdered daughters."
Mina Smallman, Church of England Archdeacon, mother of two murdered women


The bodies of Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman were found intertwined in undergrowth Photo courtesy of Henry, Smallman families

To serve and protect, basically the universal code of police forces everywhere in democratic societies. On occasion the public trust is betrayed by the outrageous and often criminal behaviours of a small number of people who take that oath lightly, as officers of the law. Two British police officers did just that in a heartlessly outrageous manner when they decided to exploit their proximity to a macabre murder scene, by taking photographs for the distinct purpose of sharing them.

The choice of who to share them with was almost as shocking as their invasion of privacy of two murdered women; in effect a degrading, shameful performance. Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, admitted in a court of law to using their phones to take images of the murdered women's bodies. Upon which they superimposed their faces, sharing the images through WhatsApp. Those with whom they shared these offences-against-the-dead were junior officers being mentored by the two older, experienced officers.

Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis, who were sentenced after a criminal trial at which the two pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA

As a demonstration of just how cool they were facing death, in the most macabre way imaginable? As a source of amusing entertainment, by abusing the sad memory of two viciously slashed-to-death women for the jollification of their junior peers? Judge Mark Lucraft described their actions as "appalling and inexplicable". The memory of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry assaulted for "cheap thrills and bragging rights", commented the judge as he sentenced them to three years in prison.

Nicole Smallman, 27, and her sister Bibaa Henry, 46, had been stabbed to death by 19-year-old Danyal Hussein in Fryent Country Park, Wembley in June of last year. He is described as having been "Satan-obsessed". At his trial, he was sentenced to life with a minimum of 35 years. The two women's mother who attended the sentencing hearing with other members of the family heard details of the messages the two officers sent alongside the photographs they posted on social media.

"[You had dragged the bodies away and posed them in an embrace to] defile [them in death]."
"You had found these two women. You were a stranger to them. You surprised them, you terrified them and you killed them."
"You committed these vicious attacks. You did it to kill. You did it for money and a misguided pursuit of power."
"The lives of your victims' loved ones have been] shattered."
Mrs. Justice Whipple, Blackheath courtroom