Ex-police officers jailed for taking victims’ pictures ‘attacked in prison’

Former police officers jailed for taking pictures of two murdered sisters at a crime scene they were protecting have been attacked in prison, judges have been told.

Deniz Jaffer, 48, and Jamie Lewis, 33, had been assigned to guard the scene after Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London, in June 2020.

They were jailed for two years and nine months at a hearing at the Old Bailey in December after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office.

News that they had been attacked in prison emerged on Wednesday as they lost appeals against their sentences.

Appeal judges Dame Victoria Sharp, Mrs Justice McGowan and Mrs Justice Farbey dismissed the appeals after considering arguments at a Court of Appeal hearing in London.

They said they will give their reasons at a later date.

Lewis, from Colchester in Essex, has been sacked from the Metropolitan Police, while Jaffer, of Hornchurch, east London, resigned.

Danyal Hussein was given a life sentence, with a minimum term of 35 years, in October after being found guilty of the women’s murders.

Judge Mark Lucraft, who jailed Lewis and Jaffer, was told the officers moved from their posts to photograph the women’s bodies, with the images shared with colleagues and friends on WhatsApp.

The murdered women’s mother, Mina Smallman, and her husband Chris, were at the appeal hearing.

Barristers representing the men argued that the sentences imposed by Judge Lucraft were excessive.

Neil Saunders, who represented Jaffer, said Jaffer has been attacked three times by three different inmates.

Luke Ponte, for Lewis, said Lewis has been assaulted twice.

Barrister Joel Smith, for the Crown, said the men’s appeals should be dismissed.

He said their actions exacerbated the “unimaginable” bereavement the women’s family suffered.

Mr Smith said the killing of the sisters was a “shocking” and “ferocious” crime.

– In a separate case, the three judges also dismissed an appeal by a former police IT worker jailed for unlawfully accessing and storing images of dead people on a personal computer.

Darren Collins, who worked for Staffordshire Police, was given a three-year term by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court in January.

Lawyers representing Collins, who pleaded guilty, argued that the sentence was too long.

Appeal judges ruled against him and said they will give their reasons at a later date.