A police officer who was jailed for taking and sharing inappropriate photos of the bodies of two murdered sisters has been found to have told a fabricated story to his friends that he had covered up a racist assault.
Deniz Jaffer, who had served with the Metropolitan Police, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison in December 2021 after admitting to misconduct in public office for photographing the bodies of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, who were killed in a random attack.
His colleague Jamie Lewis was also imprisoned for the same length of time for their misconduct while guarding the crime scene in Fryent Park, north London, in June 2020.
A police watchdog investigation has now found that – days after attending the murder scene – Jaffer bragged in a WhatsApp group about a police cover-up involving three “white fellas” whom he said were arrested for assault at a football protest.
He told his friends that the three men were released after he spoke with them “off the record”. He said that he told the men it would be at the victims’ request, despite not contacting them.
Jaffer also twice used an offensive racial term to refer to the Asian men, according to the investigation, which involved a forensic examination of his phone during the probe into his behaviour at the murder scene.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report, published on Friday, said Jaffer’s conduct over the fabricated cover-up “indicates a corrupt attitude within policing that specifically targets people from the south Asian community”.
Jaffer later tried to dismiss the messages as “chit chat” and an attempt to be “funny”. A Metropolitan Police investigation concluded Jaffer’s account was made up and that the assault on the Asian men did not happen.
The IOPC report found: “The sentiment expressed by PC Jaffer is likely to bring discredit on the police service and undermine public confidence in policing, especially but not limited to members of the south Asian community.
“Concerning is PC Jaffer’s reference to this as ‘chit chat’ and ‘gossip’.”
Jaffer later told investigators he was not racist and had merely repeated a racial slur a friend had previously used.
The incident was unconnected to the Fryent Country Park murders, but was uncovered during a forensic examination of his phone during the investigation into his behaviour at the crime scene.
The IOPC report also revealed that Lewis initially told police he was “95 per cent certain” he had not taken photographs of himself next to the bodies of Ms Smallman and Ms Henry, who were killed in a random attack.
It was later discovered that he had taken at least two photographs, while Jaffer took four pictures of the bodies as they lay on the ground.
Analysis of their mobile phones later showed that Jaffer took four photographs of the two murder victims.
He claimed he had taken them to protect himself against claims that he had interfered with the scene, and because he was concerned about wild animals finding the bodies.
Lewis took two photos of the general scene and superimposed his face on one of Jaffer’s pictures to create a “selfie-style” image with the bodies, which he sent back to his colleague.
The pair also made inappropriate comments when showing the images to their colleagues. Lewis shared a news article about the discovery of the bodies in a WhatsApp group of about 40 police officers, and wrote: “Unfortunately I’m sat next to two dead birds full of stab wounds.”
Jaffer was also in another WhatsApp group of friends from outside policing, where he wrote: “I have pictures of the two dead victims. Let me know who doesn’t want to see.”
He also sent a photo of the bodies to a former colleague with the message: “This is what I have to deal with.”
During their sentencing, judge Mark Lucraft said Jaffer and Lewis demonstrated “appalling and inexplicable conduct”, while the Met Police apologised to the victims’ loved ones for the defendants’ “shameful” and “utterly unprofessional” actions.
The murderer, 19-year-old Danyal Hussein, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years.
Last month, three serving Met Police officers faced misconduct meetings for failing to challenge or report the inappropriate photos when they were either shared with or shown to them. They received written warnings.
Scotland Yard said it had implemented the recommendations made by the IOPC regarding officers’ behaviour, adding that the force “made significant changes to improve our standards and culture since this happened”.
