Danyal Hussein sentencing: Mother Mina Smallman describes murdered daughters as ‘beautiful girls’

The mother of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman described her daughters as “real people with hearts”.

Mina Smallman was speaking outside the Old Bailey, after after Danyal Hussein was jailed for at least 35 years for murdering the pair.

Hussein, 19, of Guy Barnett Grove, Kidbrooke, Greenwich, promised the sacrifice of six women in six months to scoop the Mega Millions Super Jackpot in a satanic blood pact.

He made Ms Henry, 46, and Ms Smallman, 27, his first victims, when he attacked them at random in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, on June 6 last year.

The pair had been celebrating Ms Henry’s 46th birthday in the park due to Covid regulations.

Today, Mina Smallman, the Church of England’s first female archdeacon from a black or minority ethnic background, paid tribute to her two daughters.

She said: “I think you have heard me say in the past there will be no celebrations here but justice has been done.

“They were beautiful girls to look at anyway but they were real people with hearts.

“Bibaa has left behind a daughter who has given birth to a son in the last year.

“Life is going on, there is a legacy.

“Nicole I think we grieved more for her because there was 20 years difference. She had 20 years less. To know her was to love her.

“Lots and lots of families have given tribute to Bibaa because she was an amazing social worker. She would never take a child away unless she tried everything.

“I am really really proud of them.”

Ms Smallman said that “today we are celebrating what is wonderful about the Metropolitan Police”, however the investigation was marred by police errors and misconduct.

PC Deniz Jaffer and PC Jamie Lewis were charged with misconduct in public office for snapping selfies next to the dead bodies of Ms Henry and Ms Smallman.

At a court hearing, the pair indicated they would plead guilty and said they were “sorry beyond measure for the pain that they have caused”.

In a separate investigation, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that the initial enquiries by the Met was “below the standard that it should have been”.

A logging error after the pair were reported missing, meant detectives were not dispatched to murdered sisters’ homes, leaving Ms Smallman’s partner to find the dead bodies in a family search.

Earlier this week, Mina Smallman rejected the Met’s apology over failings in how it responded to the missing persons investigation.

She said: “We do have a problem. We do have an underground that is infiltrating and growing in our Metropolitan Police.

“I want to say thank you to this team who worked tirelessly to find the killer.

“I want to thank the media for finally getting our story, for understanding why everybody is important.

“The last few weeks have been very difficult for me. They have triggered my ailments.

“I only want to speak when I feel I’m doing it justice. Thank you all for being here and caring.”

Speaking about her daughters’ killer, Danyal Hussein, she said it was “all a performance”.

“There is nothing you can’t tell me about any boys and that is a performance designed to elicit sympathy or to have a belief that there is some really wrong with him,” she said.

“ There is nothing wrong with him. He is just an obnoxious human being.

“He is a broken human being who, if he had not been caught, for other families they would have been suffering what we have. Well he ain’t out there now.

“In 35 years’ time they won’t let him out. I won’t let them.”

Det Insp Maria Green, from Scotland Yard’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “Danyal Hussein is a dangerous, arrogant and violent individual who from the outset has shown no remorse or acceptance of his actions.

“The sentence handed down by the court today is a reflection of the seriousness of his crimes.

“I hope that knowing he will now spend many years behind bars will bring a small degree of comfort to Bibaa and Nicole’s loved ones.

“This has been a shocking and chilling case and I know the investigation will stay with all of those involved for a long time to come.

“Hussein went out that night with the intention of killing in order to satisfy his bizarre fantasies under the deluded belief he would be rewarded with financial prosperity.

“His wicked acts have cut short the lives of two completely innocent women who were simply celebrating a birthday.

“The senselessness of Hussein’s actions has made it all the more difficult for Bibaa and Nicole’s loved ones to come to terms with their loss.

“Despite this, throughout our investigation and the subsequent trial, they have shown the utmost dignity and strength in the most unimaginable of circumstances.

“My thoughts and those of my colleagues are always with them.”