Two ex-Met police officers lose appeal against sentence for taking pictures of murdered sisters
Judges have been told they have been attacked in prison
Last updated 11th May 2022
Two former police officers with the Metropolitan force have lost appeals against their sentences after being jailed for taking pictures of two murdered sisters they were protecting.
The ex-officers, Jamie Lewis, from Colchester, and Deniz Jaffer, from Hornchurch, who were meant to be guarding the crime scene in Wembley in 2020, were given jail terms after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office.
Judges have been told the pair have been attacked in prison.
‘Dismissed appeals for former Metropolitan police officers’
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 and as they lost appeals today, news emerged they had been attacked in prison.
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.
The murder of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman
Essex-based Lewis had 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, and 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, and added that the killing of the sisters was a "shocking" and "ferocious" crime.