Eight police officers are under investigation over allegations photos of a murder scene where two sisters were stabbed to death were shared on WhatsApp.
Nicole Smallman, 27, and 46-year-old Bibaa Henry, 46, were found dead at Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north London on June 6, and both suffered multiple stab wounds. But it later emerged two police officers working on the case had been arrested and were being investigated for misconduct in public office.
Police said it had been informed of allegations of “non-official and inappropriate photographs” shared from the murder scene just weeks after the killings.
Both officers, who are based on the North East Command, have been suspended from duty.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, who conducted the arrests, said the pictures were allegedly shared with a number of others, who the Met are now dealing with.
The IOPC announced a further six Met Police officers are under investigation for misconduct.
The officers arrested are alleged to have been either aware of, or had either separately received or viewed the photographs shared in a closed WhatsApp group, the IOPC said.
The further six officers accused for failing to either challenge or report the sharing of these images.
Sal Naseem, IOPC Director for London, said he was “deeply concerned” by the details emerging from the investigation.
“The public have a right to expect high standards of professional behaviour from police,” he said. “These allegations, if true, breach that trust and may point to more serious issues around the organisational culture, which we will also be looking at.”
He said the case is a “salient reminder to all police officers to take responsibility for addressing wrongdoing and upholding professional standards in their own ranks.”
Officers have an “obligation to speak out if they see unacceptable behaviour”, he added.
Last month Bibaa and Nicole’s mother, Mina Smallman, said of the allegations about the photos: “This has taken our grief to another place. If ever we needed an example of how toxic it has become, those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable, that they felt they could take photographs of dead black girls and send them on. It speaks volumes of the ethos that runs through the Metropolitan Police.”
She claimed the police were “making assumptions” when they didn’t immediately respond when the sisters were first reported missing.
Teenager Danyal Hussein, of Kidbrooke, south east London, has been charged with two counts of murder and a further count of possession of an offensive weapon. He appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink last month.
TheSun
