A distraught mother pardoned the Satanist who stabbed both of her children to death before taking photographs with their bodies.
Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were discovered entwined in the bushes at Fryent Country Park after being stabbed 30 times in a random assault on June 6, 2020.
Mina Smallman, the mother of Nicole and Bibaa and the Church of England’s first black female archdeacon, has forgiven Danyal Hussein, 19, the killer of her daughters.
Hussein was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years after being found guilty of their murders in October last year.
‘It’s about being able to hear beyond the evil of this world,’ Ms Smallman told The Sun.
‘You have to dig deep when the bad times come.’
She added: ‘Finding my faith has saved me on numerous occasions and at times like this you need it.’
During his trial in July last year, the Old Bailey heard how Hussein had ‘butchered’ the sisters to death after making a blood pact with a demon to ‘sacrifice women’ in return for winning the lottery.
The two sisters had met friends at the park to celebrate Bibaa’s birthday, but stayed behind together taking selfies before they were attacked.
Two Metropolitan Police officers, Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis, were also jailed for 33 months in December for taking selfies with the bodies as they guarded the crime scene.
Ms Smallman previously told The Mirror: ‘Something has gone wrong with the vetting and the police has become a safe haven for thugs.’
A few weeks after their murder, she described the moment police returned to the home she shares with her husband Chris to inform them of the allegations against Jaffer and Lewis.
Ms Smallman said: ‘I was really anxious and Chris said: “Mina, what on earth could they possibly tell you that could be worse than what we are going through?” And I said: “No, you’re right, the worst has already happened.”‘
Jaffer, 48, and Lewis, 33, had been assigned to protect the scene, but moved from their posts to photograph the women’s bodies, with the images shared with colleagues and friends on WhatsApp.
The two officers were jailed for two years and nine months at a hearing at the Old Bailey in December 2020, after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct report also previously said Jaffer’s phone contained ‘numerous incidences of race discrimination and racist language’ over a period between June 8 and 22 of the same year.
Jaffer and Lewis, neither of whom was wearing forensic protection, had arrived in the park at 3.30am.
During the night, Jaffer took four pictures of the bodies in situ and Lewis took two, and superimposed his face on to one of them to create the ‘selfie-style’ image.
She has shared her story as part of a BBC documentary to share the message that those grieving are not alone, but also as part of a determination to change the ‘toxic’ culture of police.
Two Daughters, a documentary presented by Stacey Dooley, will air on BBC2 at 9pm on May 29.