Police share frustration over online access to killer of sisters
Danyal Hussein was found guilty of murder yesterday
A 19-year-old was found guilty of murdering Bibaa Henry and her sister Nicole Smallman yesterday.
Last June Bibaa Henry and her sister Nicole Smallman met to celebrate the eldest birthday, and stayed in a North London park into the evening dancing together with fairy lights set up.
Yesterday, Danyal Hussein, 19, was found guilty of murdering the two sisters in connection to a 'demon pact' he had made to win the lottery.
The senior police officer in charge of the Wembley park double murder investigation has spoken of his “frustration” at unlocking the killer’s online world.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, who is retiring after 30 years, said Danyal Hussein refused to hand over passwords for his iPad and his mobile phone was never found.
He said officers were unable to access data stored on the iCloud and the defendant’s parents did not engage with the inquiry.
From what officers were able to recover, there was evidence Hussein was talking to others about demons and spells, as well as researching extreme far right material, he said.
But other potentially revealing information about his activities on the dark web remains unknown.
The Metropolitan Police officer said:
“He was in communication with others and they talk about different demons and different spells.
“We believe there was a lot more he was accessing on the dark web.
“We have had discussions with counter terrorism officers to get more of an understanding around thoughts and ideology.”
But he said the murders were not regarded as terror-related and there was no evidence anyone else was involved.
Mr Harding added:
“We have not seen any evidence of any encouragement but we have not been able to get into his deepest darkest thoughts hidden in his computer somewhere.”
“In my experience of murder investigations, we always seem to come to the same problem getting into certain devices and asking to get into them.
“I personally find it strange they do not help in certain situations to understand if there are other people with a similar mindset he is talking to.
“I think it’s incredibly frustrating when you are trying to run a murder inquiry with one hand tied behind your back.”
The Met Police confirmed it was able to access only 20% of data held on Hussein’s iPad.
A request was made via the Crown Prosecution Service to access further data on the Apple device in an attempt to fully understand who Hussein was, and who he may have been talking to.
It was turned down by the US legal system on the basis that there was no “probable cause” – that nothing suspected to be on the iPad was directly linking Hussein to the murders, police said.
Hussein’s handwritten notes suggested that he was looking at sites on the dark web, Scotland Yard said.
An Apple spokesman said the company was unaware of a request.
UK law enforcement requests for information held in the US are made through the legal framework of the multilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.