Jaffer was also found to have used a slur for Pakistani people
By Victoria Munro

Jamie Lewis and Deniz Jaffer (left to right) (credit: Met Police)

Former Waltham Forest cops who mocked murdered sisters have been jailed for two years and nine months each.

Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, were sentenced at the Old Bailey on 6th December after previously pleading guilty to misconduct in public office.

On 24th November, Lewis, who unlike Jaffer had not already resigned from the force, was sacked following a police misconduct hearing.

The pair were assigned to guard Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in June last year and took photos of their bodies and sent messages describing them as “dead birds” via Whatsapp.

It was previously revealed the ex-cops were in a Whatsapp group of 41 other Met officers called “the A-team”, in which a racist slur for Pakistanis was also used on more than one occasion.

Speaking after the sentencing, the Met’s assistant commissioner for professionalism Helen Ball described the pair’s action as “utterly unprofessional, disrespectful and deeply insensitive”.

She added: “Our thoughts are once more with the family and friends of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. I am so sorry that during the most difficult time in their lives the actions of these two officers caused them so much additional pain and distress.”

In the early hours of 8th June, Lewis sent a message to the “A-team” groupchat reading: “Unfortunately I’m sat next to two dead birds with stab wounds.”

He later sent Jaffer a superimposed “selfie-style” image of his own face on one of the sister’s bodies.

When formally interviewed two weeks later, Lewis told officers from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC): “I’m really confident that I didn’t take such pictures.”

Jaffer deleted the photographs from his phone when he heard Lewis was being interviewed by “people in suits” but later admitted to having them on his phone.

In WhatsApp messages unrelated to the sisters, Jaffer referred to a group of Asian men using a racial slur for Pakistanis. Lewis was also found to have replied “exactly” after another officer used the same slur.

Both men are barred from re-joining police forces in the future.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.