Three Metropolitan Police officers who received horrific footage taken from the scene where two black sisters lay murdered were allowed to keep their jobs.
The three police officers were in a WhatsApp group that received photos taken by two colleagues who were later jailed for their actions.
Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis have been ordered to stand guard at the scene in a London park where Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were found stabbed to death in June 2020.
Instead, they took photos, including some showing the bodies, and shared them in two WhatsApp groups, calling the victims “dead birds.” One group contained 41 police officers and was called “the A-Team”, the other contained Jaffer’s friends.
Three PCs faced a misconduct meeting on Wednesday and each received a written warning after failing to report the footage to their bosses.
All three were based within the Met’s northeast command and had admitted wrongdoing.
Former Met chief superintendent Del Babu said the punishment was too light: “If something as horrible as photographs of dead women is taken, individuals should be reported.
“It is more appropriate that they are not in the police service. The fact that they remain is worrying. Send the wrong message. It will only increase the anguish of the family. It does not reflect the seriousness of what they did.”
Jaffer, 47, and Lewis, 33, were each jailed in December for two years and nine months. They had pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office after The Guardian revealed the scandal that rocked Britain’s biggest force in 2020. Jaffer resigned from the Met and Lewis was sacked.
The Met said the three officers who received the written warnings were sometimes at Forest Gate station in east London. The force said the level of sanction was decided by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The Met said: “Misconduct meetings were held on Wednesday June 22 for three PCs from the North East Commando unit who were investigated by the IOPC for failing to report inappropriate photography at the scene of a double murder at Wembley.
“These meetings, as governed by the rules of conduct of the national police, were not held in public. Led by a senior officer, the meetings were attended by the IOPC and a family representative. The three officers, who had admitted misconduct, each received a written warning.”
Met Major Paul Brogden said: “These matters, along with other high-profile cases at the Met, have been an urgent catalyst for change. We are working hard to begin rebuilding the public’s trust that police officers will protect and respect them.”
Danyal Hussein was jailed for life with a minimum of 35 years for murdering Henry and Smallman.
Henry, a senior social worker, and Smallman, a photographer, had been celebrating the older sister’s birthday in the park. After the celebration ended, they stayed behind and were attacked. They were reported missing the next day and a search by family and friends led to their bodies being found by the partner of one of the sisters.
The Met’s handling of the case has been condemned by the IOPC and the force has apologized for the failings.