Mina Smallman, the mother of two sisters who were murdered, has forgiven their killer but not two police officers who took photos of the sisters’ bodies. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Smallman stated that she did not feel hatred towards her daughters’ killer, but the Met Police officers who sent the photos violated the victims. She added that their actions meant that she has not forgiven them and attempted suicide when they were released from prison.
PCs Jamie Lewis and Deniz Jaffer were deployed to guard the crime scene in Wembley where the sisters’ bodies were found. The officers took pictures of the bodies and referred to them as “dead birds” in a group chat, an offence for which they were each sentenced to 33 months in prison. Smallman asserts that police need to take the online misogynistic radicalisation of young men more seriously, adding that there has been a surge in radicalisation during the pandemic.
Despite how her daughters were treated by the Met Police officers, Smallman still has faith in the institution as a whole. She maintains that most of the police are good people. However, she asserts that the police need to be reformed. Earlier this month, Smallman called for more black officers to be deployed in London, appearing at the launch of the Alliance for Police Accountability, a group fighting racism and misogyny in the police.
Smallman is a campaigner for women’s safety. She believes that police need to address the online radicalisation of young men that is feeding hate and misogyny, providing the tools to hurt women in their lives. Commenting on the recent crossbow attack that killed three women, including Carol Hannah, and Louise Hunt, Smallman stated that she grieves all over again and knows the mother of Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by a police officer. “When I talk to these mums, they are so broken, really broken,” added Smallman
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