This is the last ‘haunting’ selfie of two sisters as they spotted a Satan-worshipper approaching moments before he murdered them after signing a deal with the devil in his own blood – as their mother today branded him an ‘animal’ and declared: ‘He’ll be a killing machine by the time he comes out of prison’.Â
Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were murdered on Saturday, June 6 last year while partying together in a north London to celebrate Bibaa’s 46th birthday and shot 150 photographs capturing their euphoria of being together after months of lockdown.    Â
And in what police have described as the last ‘haunting’ image of them together, taken at 1.13am, both women can be seen looking to their left ‘as if distracted’ in Fryent Country Park, Wembley. Investigating officers believe this is the moment they became aware of the approach of Danyal Hussein, who was then 18. Â
Hussein was about to start to fulfil his ‘contract’ with a demon he had named Lucifuge Rofocale – signed in his own blood – in which he promised to kill six women in six months in return for winning the £321million Mega Millions Super Jackpot lottery and not being suspected of his crimes. Such was his obsession with winning a huge sum, he spent £180 on Lotto tickets in the days before he struck.Â
Jurors were not told that Hussein, now 19, had previously come to the attention of police aged just 15 over fears he was vulnerable to radicalisation and violent extremism.
The sisters’ mother Mina Smallman, a retired Church of England cleric, told BBC news: ‘The problem is the people who are supposed to be assessing and taking responsibility, there’s a gap from stage to stage so they get lost in the system. The saddest thing is, if this young man does have this tendency, when he goes into prison he is going to be even more radicalised. He is a killer now, he’ll be a killing machine by the time he comes out.’
She also described forgiving him because he has ‘no power in our lives’, and revealed Hussein would position himself in the dock so he could stare at her and smile during the most gruesome evidence.Â
She said: ‘This animal.. he looked at me straight in my eyes and gave this sinister little smile. So I smiled back and winked and he went doolally because I gave him that and I wouldn’t give him the privilege of letting him feel he had destroyed me’.  Hussein will be sentenced on September 22.
Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were found dead following the ‘terrifying’murder carried out under cover of darkness – and police believe this selfie may have been the moment they saw Danyal Hussein approaching
Hussein had spent £160 on lottery tickets in the days before he murdered the sisters. These were found by police in his room
Murderer Danyal Hussein holds his hands up in the air as police arrest him at his home following the discovery of the sisters
He puts hands behind his head as police train their tasers on him at his parents’ home, eager to bring him in without trouble
Danyal Hussein (above upon his arrest), 19, was on trial at the Old Bailey accused murdering Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, in the early hours of June 6 last year
Hussein used his own blood to sign an agreement with a ‘demon’ named Lucifuge Rofocale promising to ‘sacrifice’ women
Inked in blood: The signature of the murderer penned in his own bodily fluids on the ‘deal’ to the devil for a lottery win
Police Apple iPad plea rejected
Detectives were unable to access 80 per cent of the data on Hussein’s Apple iPad.
The killer told police he had forgotten his password and a request to US courts for the information was denied because it was unlikely anything on the device would directly link him to the murders.Â
Scotland Yard’s Simon Harding likened it to running an investigation ‘with your hands tied behind your back’.Â
He said police needed the password to help find out if there were other ‘likeminded’ people they needed to trace.
Apple said it had no record of the application as it was made directly to the courts.
Hussein had been on a de-radicalisation programme between October 2017 and May 2018 after being referred to the Prevent scheme by his school.
Following his arrest, police found Hussein had communicated with others about demons and love potions, and carried out online research about the far-right and Norse mythology.
He had made a pact with a mythical demon to kill six women every six months in return for winning the lottery.
Mrs Smallman said law enforcement should be allowed access to all communication devices belonging to those suspected of extremism.
She told the BBC: ‘Once they have proven that they are not working within the right systems, they’re not in a good place, we need to be able to gain access to that information.’Â
In the early hours of June 6 he stabbed Bibaa eight times, and her sister 28 times, with a 12-inch knife. He hid their bodies in undergrowth where they would not be found for 36 hours by Nicole’s boyfriend. Police believe if they had not caught him he would have killed again.Â
‘No one expects their children to die before them, but to have two out of three of your children murdered on the same night is just incomprehensible,’ said the victims’ mother Mina Smallman in her victim impact statement.
Mrs Smallman, a retired Church of England archdeacon, has accused the Metropolitan Police of racial bias because of the slow response when her daughters were reported missing on June 6. The force faces a probe by the police watchdog after the family had to set up their own search party when officers failed to arrive, with Miss Smallman’s boyfriend finding the bodies on June 7.
Mina Smallman, mother of the two victims looking on as Danyal Hussein appears in the dock at the Old Bailey, where he would try to intimidate and provoke her. She refused and would smile and wink back
How Satanist sixth former was referred to Prevent aged 15 over far-right propaganda he viewed on school computers – but was discharged less than a year later after he was deemed no riskÂ
Hussein had attended Thomas Tallis School in Kidbrooke, South London where he was reported to the government’s Prevent de-radicalisation programme in October 2017, at the age of 15.
The school raised concerns that Hussein ‘may have been displaying vulnerability to radicalisation’ and, after a further assessment, he was referred to the Channel programme, which is part of Prevent.
Seven months later, in May 2018 he was discharged from the Channel process with ‘no outstanding concerns at that time with respect to violent extremism or terrorism,’ according to a Home Office statement.
After leaving the Channel programme, Hussein continued to receive ‘relevant support’ from his school, health and social services, and ‘no further concerns were raised over his behaviour in respect of Prevent.’
In addition, the Prevent officers also carried out reviews at six and 12 months after he was discharged from the Channel process, and ‘nothing of concern was identified to prompt any further intervention from Channel or Prevent,’ the statement said.
Detectives now question whether Hussein may already have been set on a path to rightwing extremism and Satanism.
Sam Armstrong, of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told MailOnline: ‘Time and time again individuals who commit the most heinous acts of violence and terrorism are found to have been on the radar of counter-extremism officials.
‘The government must now urgently investigate whether the protocols for being dismissed as not posing a danger are sufficiently robust to deal with the threat that we face.
‘Future lives depend on getting this right.’
Two officers have already been charged with misconduct in public office after apparently taking selfies with the bodies and sharing them on WhatsApp groups.Â
Hussein was referred to Prevent for far-right extremism aged 15 – but discharged months later as no risk.Â
The spells-obsessed killer had cut himself to use his own blood to sign an agreement with a ‘demon’ named Lucifuge Rofocale promising to ‘sacrifice’ women in exchange for the Mega Millions Super Jackpot.Â
The shocked Old Bailey heard during his trial that in another note, he offered blood for ‘sexual potency’ and to make a girl at his school fall in love with him.
Police yesterday released the moment he was apprehended, circled outside his mother’s home with tasers trained upon him.Â
MailOnline can also now disclose Hussein, who has Iraqi Kurdish heritage, had been referred to a de-radicalisation programme at the age of 15 by his school who feared he was ‘vulnerable to grooming’.
Hussein had attended Thomas Tallis School in Kidbrooke, South London where he was reported to the government’s Prevent de-radicalisation programme in October 2017.
The school raised concerns that Hussein ‘may have been displaying vulnerability to radicalisation’ and, after a further assessment, he was referred to the Channel programme, which is part of Prevent.
Seven months later, in May 2018 he was discharged from the Channel process with ‘no outstanding concerns at that time with respect to violent extremism or terrorism,’ according to a Home Office statement.
It came after teachers found material he had accessed on school computers, including far-right propaganda.Â
Police after his arrest had also wanted to ask tech giant Apple for help because they were unable to see what he viewed or who he talked to – but the US courts refused to compel them to ‘crack’ storage used by his laptop.  Â
Armed with a knife bought in Asda, Hussein had launched a ‘terrifying’ attack on Henry and Smallman in north London.
Having cut his hand in the process, he then dragged their bodies into bushes in a final heartless indignity for the innocent pair.Â
Hussein, who declined to give evidence, has disputed DNA found at the scene or that he was caught on any CCTV, including footage of a person returning to his home after the killings in the early hours of June 6.
But his lies were seen through by the jury in London’s famous crown court. Â
The mother of the two sisters, The Venerable Mina Smallman, spoke outside the Old Bailey after Danyal Hussein was convicted of their murders.
The retired cleric said: ‘I have made no bones about my complaints with the Metropolitan Police office but I have to say I can only commend them. This team moved heaven and earth to ensure we felt that we were being supported.
‘This is the kind of police force that I believe in and we need to work towards so we have justice and families are treated with respect.’
She added: ‘We remember our girls as the wonderful, strong women they were and we hope that some good will come out of this horrible story.’
In his closing speech, Mr Glasgow QC had told the jury: ‘Given the weight of the evidence against him, only someone who actually believes that an agreement with a demon will work could refuse to accept any aspect of the case against him.Â
The sisters (above), who had been celebrating Ms Henry’s birthday with friends, were found the following day by Ms Smallman’s boyfriend
Armed with a knife bought in Asda, teenager (above, Hussein in Asda) launched a ‘terrifying’ attack on Henry and Smallman
Danyal Hussein here in a picture that had been shown to the jury at the Old Bailey trial of a photo used to get bank account
How Apple password frustrated the police investigation
Police know that Hussein accessed the dark web but not what he viewed or who he talked to because he refused to give them the password to his laptop which had been used to surf the ‘dark web’.
They could not fully access his Apple iPad and police never found his mobile phone.
‘There’s not really a huge amount of information about how he became fascinated with demons and the occult because it was all done, behind locked doors in his bedroom essentially,’ Mr Harding said.
‘In my experience in murder investigations, my colleagues will say the same, we always seem to come to the same problem, getting into certain devices, and asking to get into them and sometimes being refused due to whatever reasons there might be.
‘I personally find it strange that you wouldn’t help in those certain situations because the reason you want to get in there is to understand if there are other people with a similar mindset that he’s talking to that we would need to get into interventions or whatever it might be.
‘So I think it’s incredibly frustrating to run a murder inquiry when your hands are tied behind your back in that way.’
‘Perhaps he still believes that Lucifuge Rofocale will come to his aid, but unfortunately for the defendant, there are no deals to be had in these courts and the devil – if he is anywhere – is in the detail. ‘
Outlining the tragic circumstances, he said: ‘For Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, Friday, June 5 was supposed to be a celebration of life; a birthday party, a night where you reflect on the year you have had and look forward to the year that will be.Â
‘It was supposed to be an evening of friendship and love; a chance to spend time with those closest to you.
‘And it was supposed to end with both sisters returning home to their loved ones with smiles on their faces and fond memories to look back on.
‘For this defendant, however, the celebration he had planned was quite different.
‘It was a celebration of death, not of life; it was a night of sacrifice and violence, not of shared emotions; and it was the start of his planned campaign of vengeance that would see part of his twisted bargain fulfilled and leave him looking forward to the riches he believed would soon come his way.
‘It is hard to imagine that anyone could do to another human being what this defendant did to Bibaa and Nicole; but to have planned it, to have prepared it and to have performed it with such ruthless selfishness it truly terrifying.
‘He did not care what he had to do to get what he wanted, and these two women were nothing more than a means to a very disturbing end.
‘Indeed, the last few minutes of Bibaa and Nicole’s lives must have been truly terrifying.’
The defendant’s claim that someone else wrote the agreement to sacrifice women for a lottery win was almost as ridiculous as the document itself, the lawyer asserted.Â
A knife similar to the one bought by Danyal Hussein in Asda in Colindale he used to murder the two innocent sisters
Hussein showing a cut on his hand following his arrest which he got murdering the sisters in his frenzied knife attack
Bibaa Henry’s mobile phone, along with a bank card and a driving licence after they were retrieved from a pond in Fryent Country Park
Documents found in the room of Danyal Hussein, including spells and pacts to the devil and strange symbols
‘The person responsible for this perverse document and the person responsible for the brutal slaying of two women are one and the same individual: this defendant,’ Mr Glasgow said.
He also dismissed the suggestion by the defence that the crime scene could have been contaminated, saying there was no evidence from Hussein to explain how his blood and DNA got there.
Earlier, trial judge Mrs Justice Whipple warned jurors not to be drawn into speculation or influenced by emotion as they assessed the evidence.
On the central issue of the case, she said the prosecution say the evidence shows the killer was Hussein while the defendant asserts that the jury ‘cannot be sure of that’.Â
Lawyers for Hussein claim a ‘mystery man’ who looks like the teenager bought the knives at the supermarket and purchased shovels and mask from Amazon.
An unknown person also wrote out the contract with Lucifuge Rofocale – then signed it in Hussein’s blood and left it under the television in his bedroom.Â
The tragedy for the sisters’ family was to be compounded by official errors, police incompetence and corporate privacy issues.
This included an earlier, failed, opportunity to identify and attempt to change Hussein’s mindset when he was suspected of far-Right sympathies, aged 15, and the dilatory police response to reports of the sisters’ disappearance.
A US court’s refusal to grant detectives access to Hussein’s Apple iPad also led senior investigator Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding to complain that police were trying to investigate the murders ‘with our hands tied behind our backs’.Â
DCI Simon Harding, the senior investigating officer for Operation Saxonstreet, said after the case: ‘This has been a shocking case that will stay with all of us for many years to come, not least the awful way in which these two vibrant women met their deaths but also Hussein’s bizarre deluded fantasies that he should sacrifice the women in exchange for a lottery win.
‘I strongly believe that he would have gone on to kill more women if he hadn’t injured his hand in such a way that he did when he killed Bibaa and Nicole.
‘It’s very difficult for my team still to this day to comprehend that this 18-year-old boy, as he was at the time, could have carried out such and such savage attacks.
 ‘He showed disrespect for everything, for the families, support systems, the process, police, paramedics, everybody – and the jury,’ Mr Harding said.Â
 The contract with the devil talked about sacrificing women to win the lottery but police say they could ‘never rule out’ a racist motive because of ‘right-wing themes’ in his online activity.
Hussein’s online conversations showed ‘some limited evidence of far-right thoughts’ but most was to do with ‘love spells and potions’, Mr Harding said.Â
A black balaclava found on the floor of a wardrobe in a bedroom at Hussein’s home during the police searches
A bloodstained cushion bearing the the words ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass’. It was found in recovery of evidence during the investigation into the murder
A large blue holdall which was recovered during a search at a refuse centre, containing bloodstained grey blankets, an unopened sparkling wine bottle, a selfie stick and LED colour changing lights
Timeline of Danyal Hussein’s murder plot after ‘pact with devil’
Danyal Hussein planned and executed his diabolical plan to kill women and get away with it with ‘ruthless selfishness’, jurors heard before they found the 19 year old guilty of two murders.
Here are the key events in the murders of sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry.
– June 3: Danyal Hussein is caught on CCTV buying a knife block – identical to a bloody blade later recovered from the murder scene – at Asda in Colindale, north London. He returns later and purchases tape.
Hussein buys a full face mask and shovels on Amazon.
– June 4: Hussein sets up an online betting account with Lottogo.com which runs bets on the Mega Millions Super Jackpot.
– June 5: Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry are seen stocking up on picnic items for Ms Henry’s birthday in a Co-op before walking into Fryent Country Park in Wembley at 7.39pm.
Hussein picks up his Amazon purchases at Morrisons before going to the park at 8.40pm.
– June 6: The last guests leave after midnight and the sisters dance with fairy lights and clear up the picnic area.
At 1.13am the sisters take a final selfie and their attention appears distracted. Hussein launches his attack soon after, cutting himself in the process.
Just after 4am, the shadowy figure of Hussein is caught on CCTV returning to his father’s house near the park. He is not wearing any trousers.
Around 9pm, the sisters are reported missing by Ms Smallman’s boyfriend Adam Stone and soon after by their concerned mother.
At 6.15pm Hussein attends Northwick Park Hospital for cuts to his right hand and is referred for more treatment.
– June 7: Just after 1am, Hussein places bets on the Mega Millions Jackpot. He does not win and all his later attempts to win lottery prizes also come to nothing.
A distraught Mr Stone and his parents go to the park to search for the sisters. Friend Nina Esmat finds Ms Henry’s glasses near the picnic spot and is advised to take them to a police station.
Around 12.30pm, Mr Stone’s father discovers a knife and Ms Smallman’s boyfriend finds the women’s bodies in bushes.
Two police officers originally deployed to help in the missing persons inquiry are diverted as they reach the park. They secure the scene which is forensically examined over days. Some of the sisters’ belongings are later discovered at a refuse centre, including blood-stained blankets and cushions.
– June 16: Hussein reports his bank card lost, having used it to buy the knives and other purchases.
– June 30: A DNA breakthrough is made. Unidentified DNA from blood at the scene produces a familial link to the defendant due to a family member whose DNA was on the national database due to a previous caution. Within an hour and a half police link Hussein to the Asda knife-buying trip and CCTV covering his father’s home.
– July 1: In the early hours officers with Tasers knock on Hussein’s mother’s door in south-east London. Hussein answers and is arrested. At the police station he says he has Asperger’s syndrome and memory trouble.
A search of his bedroom reveals a note to a demon promising to make sacrifices of women to win the Mega Millions Super Jackpot of £321 million.
Satanism ‘sits behind it, essentially, it’s an ideology as far as we can see and it’s like a cult following,’ he added.
Three jurors had wept as Mr Glasgow read a statement from Mina Smallman while Hussein shook his head.
She said in the statement: ‘On Friday 5th June 2020, Bibaa’s birthday, I knew she had planned an outdoor party with her friends.
‘Bibaa, being the responsible person that she was, had chosen to have a very small gathering in an outside place where people would be safe.
‘I know she chose that venue because the plan was that they would watch the sunset together.
‘Bibaa and Nikki loved music and regularly attended festivals.
‘The purpose of the birthday celebration was to have a mini festival which is why she planned and organised it the way she did.
‘Bibaa was a details person hence the cushions, blankets, tablemats.
‘The weather had been very unpredictable that week and what often goes through my mind is that if it had been raining on that Friday, they wouldn’t have been there and this nightmare would never have happened to our family and our precious girls would still be here.
‘I was instantly concerned when Bibaa and Nicole had failed to get in touch with their friends, Adam and family after the party.
‘This was so unusual and not like them at all.
‘On the Sunday morning I woke up stressed.
‘I phoned Adam and asked if he heard anything and he said no.
‘At 8am I phoned my friend who was ex CID and left a voicemail, my friends could hear the worry and concern in my voice so they immediately called me back and began talking us through the process of a missing persons search.
‘We had to establish who was at the party.
‘I contacted my niece, Joanne and asked her for the contact details of Bibaa and Nicole’s friends.
‘She sent out a message on Facebook and asked the ones who were at the party to call me.
‘I was aware that family and friends had launched their own search party and they were going to go back to the park where the birthday party had been held.
‘Nina told me that she had found a pair of Bibaa’s glasses.
‘At that point, I was just thinking Bibaa must have dropped her glasses but I was still very concerned that we’d had no contact from either of them.
‘I didn’t allow myself to think of the worst, in that situation, you can’t, you just go into mum mode.
‘Adam rang me and told me they had found a knife.
‘I was on the phone to my ex CID friend and he told me to tell them to get off the crime scene.
‘That was when it hit me that something very serious was happening.
‘I was sat in my living room at home when Adam called me again, he said ‘Mina I’m going to need you to sit down… We’ve found them, they’ve gone.’
‘I instantly fell to my knees and began screaming, screaming and screaming.
‘I sobbed for ages, I have no idea how long for, I lost all concept of time… I was all alone.
‘No one expects their children to die before them but to have two out of three of your children to be murdered on the same night is just incomprehensible.
‘As a person of faith, a follower of Christ, losing two of my girls in this way could have been enough to shake a person’s faith. Fortunately it didn’t.
Mina Smallman’s victim impact statement to the court had jurors in tears
‘On Friday 5th June 2020, Bibaa’s birthday, I knew she had planned an outdoor party with her friends.
‘Bibaa, being the responsible person that she was, had chosen to have a very small gathering in an outside place where people would be safe.
‘I know she chose that venue because the plan was that they would watch the sunset together.
‘Bibaa and Nikki loved music and regularly attended festivals.
‘The purpose of the birthday celebration was to have a mini festival which is why she planned and organised it the way she did.
‘Bibaa was a details person hence the cushions, blankets, tablemats.
‘The weather had been very unpredictable that week and what often goes through my mind is that if it had been raining on that Friday, they wouldn’t have been there and this nightmare would never have happened to our family and our precious girls would still be here.
‘I was instantly concerned when Bibaa and Nicole had failed to get in touch with their friends, Adam and family after the party.
‘This was so unusual and not like them at all.
‘On the Sunday morning I woke up stressed.
‘I phoned Adam and asked if he heard anything and he said no.
‘At 8am I phoned my friend who was ex CID and left a voicemail, my friends could hear the worry and concern in my voice so they immediately called me back and began talking us through the process of a missing persons search.
‘We had to establish who was at the party.
‘I contacted my niece, Joanne and asked her for the contact details of Bibaa and Nicole’s friends.
‘She sent out a message on Facebook and asked the ones who were at the party to call me.
‘I was aware that family and friends had launched their own search party and they were going to go back to the park where the birthday party had been held.
‘Nina told me that she had found a pair of Bibaa’s glasses.
‘At that point, I was just thinking Bibaa must have dropped her glasses but I was still very concerned that we’d had no contact from either of them.
‘I didn’t allow myself to think of the worst, in that situation, you can’t, you just go into mum mode.
‘Adam rang me and told me they had found a knife.
‘I was on the phone to my ex CID friend and he told me to tell them to get off the crime scene.
‘That was when it hit me that something very serious was happening.
‘I was sat in my living room at home when Adam called me again, he said ‘Mina I’m going to need you to sit down… We’ve found them, they’ve gone.’
‘I instantly fell to my knees and began screaming, screaming and screaming.
‘I sobbed for ages, I have no idea how long for, I lost all concept of time… I was all alone.
‘No one expects their children to die before them but to have two out of three of your children to be murdered on the same night is just incomprehensible.
‘As a person of faith, a follower of Christ, losing two of my girls in this way could have been enough to shake a person’s faith. Fortunately it didn’t.
‘You never want to imagine how the girls looked.
‘I was so worried about Adam, he can’t unsee what he saw that day.
‘We visited Adam and his family around the time of us planning the funeral. He was inconsolable.
‘When I saw him, he was skin and bone. I knew he wasn’t sleeping and I was very concerned about his welfare.
‘Our family’s grief was further compounded by the cordon officers who will now be known as despicable 1 and 2, any inner strength I had reserved had been torn away.
‘When we were told they had found somebody, the relief was huge.
‘That was because no other family would have to suffer the way we have because he wouldn’t be able to do it again.
‘I didn’t leave my house for months, I couldn’t go outside the front door.
‘Fear of the press, following the mass intrusion, I couldn’t bear people talking about our girls in such a way.
‘We now have a ring doorbell so we can vet any visitors. Journalists were knocking on our neighbours doors, it was very distressing.
‘The things we have been subjected to, the level of detail has been horrific.
‘To hear that our girls were dragged along the grass so their clothes were pulled up the placed in some kind of macabre position, it makes you think that this is a person who actually doesn’t have a heart.
‘There can be no connection with humanity.
‘I understand poor upbringing, greed, I taught boys at secondary school and out of thousands of boys I have taught, I have never come across such evil.
‘When I learned about the defendant’s pact with the demon, at that point I felt my spiritual faith take hold of the situation.
‘I am a priest in the Church of England and one of my roles was to work with people delving into the occult and clearing houses of evil presence
‘When the prosecution Counsel gave his closing speech, talking the jury through the last few minutes of our girls lives and hearing that Nikki had fought back so courageously, and even while she was dying she was being stabbed in her legs, I think that was the hardest thing to hear and I think that will disturb me for the rest of my life.
‘There is no medication that can stop this pain. I have lost my first born and my baby, they have gone.
‘The hardest thing is that when their sister, my daughter Monique, looks at me she sees them and when I look at her I see them.
‘When she came over from Holland to visit, they would all be there with us and now we will never have that family time again, those precious times stolen from us.
‘What isn’t missed is the tiniest of details that often bring the most pain.
‘I can never look at an ash tree without seeing my dead girls in my minds eye.
‘I was told that in Nikki’s hand was a little bit of ash tree branch, presumably from when she was fighting for her life from the monster who was attacking her.
‘When we are driving, at any given moment we can pass a wooded area with ash trees and I burst into uncontrollable tears in the car.
Mina Smallman said: ‘I have to say I can thank the police.
‘This is the kind of police force that I believe in and we need to work towards so that we have justice and families treated with respect.
‘Can I thank all of my family and my church family, for holding us up in prayer.
‘We remember our girls as the wonderful strong women they were.
‘We hope that some good can come out of this horrible story.’
‘You never want to imagine how the girls looked.
‘I was so worried about Adam, he can’t unsee what he saw that day.
‘We visited Adam and his family around the time of us planning the funeral. He was inconsolable.
‘When I saw him, he was skin and bone. I knew he wasn’t sleeping and I was very concerned about his welfare.
‘Our family’s grief was further compounded by the cordon officers who will now be known as despicable 1 and 2, any inner strength I had reserved had been torn away.
‘When we were told they had found somebody, the relief was huge.
‘That was because no other family would have to suffer the way we have because he wouldn’t be able to do it again.
‘I didn’t leave my house for months, I couldn’t go outside the front door.
‘Fear of the press, following the mass intrusion, I couldn’t bear people talking about our girls in such a way.
‘We now have a ring doorbell so we can vet any visitors. Journalists were knocking on our neighbours doors, it was very distressing.
‘The things we have been subjected to, the level of detail has been horrific.
‘To hear that our girls were dragged along the grass so their clothes were pulled up the placed in some kind of macabre position, it makes you think that this is a person who actually doesn’t have a heart.
‘There can be no connection with humanity.
‘I understand poor upbringing, greed, I taught boys at secondary school and out of thousands of boys I have taught, I have never come across such evil.
‘When I learned about the defendant’s pact with the demon, at that point I felt my spiritual faith take hold of the situation.
‘I am a priest in the Church of England and one of my roles was to work with people delving into the occult and clearing houses of evil presence
‘When the prosecution Counsel gave his closing speech, talking the jury through the last few minutes of our girls lives and hearing that Nikki had fought back so courageously, and even while she was dying she was being stabbed in her legs, I think that was the hardest thing to hear and I think that will disturb me for the rest of my life.
‘There is no medication that can stop this pain. I have lost my first born and my baby, they have gone.
‘The hardest thing is that when their sister, my daughter Monique, looks at me she sees them and when I look at her I see them.
‘When she came over from Holland to visit, they would all be there with us and now we will never have that family time again, those precious times stolen from us.
‘What isn’t missed is the tiniest of details that often bring the most pain.
‘I can never look at an ash tree without seeing my dead girls in my minds eye.
‘I was told that in Nikki’s hand was a little bit of ash tree branch, presumably from when she was fighting for her life from the monster who was attacking her.
‘When we are driving, at any given moment we can pass a wooded area with ash trees and I burst into uncontrollable tears in the car.
Mina Smallman said: ‘I have to say I can thank the police.
‘This is the kind of police force that I believe in and we need to work towards so that we have justice and families treated with respect.
‘Can I thank all of my family and my church family, for holding us up in prayer.
‘We remember our girls as the wonderful strong women they were.
‘We hope that some good can come out of this horrible story.’
Speaking outside court, Mrs Smallman told waiting reporters: ‘I have got no bones about my complaints with the Metropolitan Police office but I have to say I can only commend them.
‘This team moved heaven and earth to ensure we felt that we were being supported.
‘This is the kind of police force that I believe in and we need to work towards so we have justice and families are treated with respect.’
She thanked her wider family and ‘church family’ for holding them up in prayer.
She said it was an ‘unbelievable day’ for the family but there were more battles to come.
She added: ‘We remember our girls as the wonderful, strong women they were and we hope that some good will come out of this horrible story.’
Olcay Sapanoglu, from the CPS, said: ‘Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry were loving sisters who adored each other and had a real zest for life.
‘But their lives were unexpectedly and cruelly cut short in the most horrific of ways as they celebrated a birthday together.
‘Danyal Hussein targeted them two women in the dark.
‘His actions were part of an absurd and twisted deal he thought he was making with a demon and he executed his part of the deal with shocking savagery.
‘His victims stood no chance. He had come prepared to ‘sacrifice’ women.
‘The prosecution case included CCTV evidence and strong scientific analysis of DNA and blood found at the scene which linked to Hussein.
‘Hussein has shown no remorse throughout these proceedings.
‘He has consistently denied being the person caught on CCTV making his way to and from the park or being the person buying the murder weapon at an Asda supermarket.
‘The deaths of Ms Henry and Ms Smallman have devastated their loved ones and left a local community reeling. Our thoughts remain with all those affected.’
Hussein lied from the moment he met police, telling them he had injured his hand when he was robbed, following his arrest at his mother’s house, three weeks after the double murder.
Police first visited Hussein’s father’s house in Kingsbury, North London, not far from the scene of the killing in Fryent Country Park, arriving around midnight.
When they were told he was at another address and drove under blue lights to his mother’s house in Eltham, South East London, arriving at 12.55am.
Police had decided to employ ‘Taser call out’ tactics, to get their suspect out of the house and make him ‘easier to control.’
PC William Lucas told the court: ‘I immediately recognised the male who answered the door as Danyal Hussein.’
His colleagues trained the red dot of their tasers on Hussein and PC Lucas asked him to step out of the house, put his hands on his head, and then handcuffed him to the rear.
‘I told him he was under arrest on suspicion of murder because he had been linked to two murders in Fryent Park and gave the date of June 6 2020,’ the officer told the Old Bailey.
Hussein replied: ‘Yeh, that’s near my grandma’s address.’
The officer said he noticed Hussein had several cuts to his right hand and three sets of stitches, two around the palm and one near the top of his second finger around 2cm long.
Danyal Hussein at Northwick Hospital getting cuts on his hands tended to from the murders of the two sisters
Two police officers charged over phone pics at sceneÂ
Two Metropolitan Police Service officers who were supposed to be guarding the murder scene overnight were charged with misconduct after posing with the dead bodies and sharing the images on Whatsapp.
The two officers, aged, 47, and, 32, were based at the North East Command, and were charged following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The 17-hour delay in police launching a search is also the subject of an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The two police officers who shared photos of the dead bodies of two sisters after they were killed in a park said they were ‘sorry beyond measure for the pain they have caused’ as they admitted misconduct in public office.
Pc Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Pc Jamie Lewis, 32, took ‘non-official and inappropriate photographs’ at the crime scene before sharing them on WhatsApp between 7 and 23 June 2020.
‘I noted he appeared quite calm. He queried and wanted me to repeat what he was being arrested for.’
As he was led out to the police van, he noticed the words: ‘Territorial Support Group’ and ‘asked if our unit arrested terrorists,’ PC Lucas said.
‘I would have explained that is not the case,’ he added.
Hussein was then taken to Wandsworth custody centre, where he was booked in wearing a black Nike top and grey shorts.
Asked if he had any injuries, Hussein brought his handcuffed hands to the side and replied: ‘Yeh, yeh’, then asked if it was an interview.
The custody officer replied: ‘Just a question, the injuries to your finger what happened there?’ and Hussein told him: ‘I was getting robbed.’
He closed his eyes and then noticed PC Lucas noting his comment and asked him: ‘I thought this wasn’t an interview.’
‘You’re not being interviewed, it’s just a risk assessment when you’re brought into custody,’ the officer replied.
The custody officer asked: ‘How do you feel right now?’
‘I’m really confused, scared,’ Hussein replied.
He was asked if he had taken any alcohol or drugs that day and if he was dependent on alcohol or drugs and said no.
Asked if had ‘any other issues’, Hussein replied: ‘I’m autistic, I have Asperger’s.’
Celestina Ongebuchi had treated Hussein at Northwick Park Hospital for injuries to his right hand fingers and thumb on June 6 at 6.17pm.
Hussein had apparently told her he was ‘attacked by a group of boys during an evening walk’ and stabbed in right hand whilst trying to stop them robbing him.
He had a 6cm cut to his thumb and a 2cm cut to his index finger and cuts to the palm of his hand.
‘Asked if he wanted to report it, Daniel said he did not want to report it,’ Ms Ongebuchi said.
He was referred to the Royal Free Hospital where, the next day, Dr Tamas Misky washed out the wounds, put in stitches and gave him a tetanus booster.
On that occasion he said he had been mugged two or three days earlier.
The Satanist sixth former: How murderer was referred to Prevent age 15 but discharged as no risk, Apple password problem hindered murder probe – and two Met cops were suspended for taking photos of bodiesÂ
BY DUNCAN GARDHAM
Hussein had attended Thomas Tallis School in Kidbrooke, South London where he was reported to the government’s Prevent de-radicalisation programme in October 2017, at the age of 15.
The school raised concerns that Hussein ‘may have been displaying vulnerability to radicalisation’ and, after a further assessment, he was referred to the Channel programme, which is part of Prevent.
It came after his school found material he had accessed on school computers, including far-right propaganda.Â
Seven months later, in May 2018 he was discharged from the Channel process with ‘no outstanding concerns at that time with respect to violent extremism or terrorism,’ according to a Home Office statement.Â
After leaving the Channel programme, Hussein continued to receive ‘relevant support’ from his school, health and social services, and ‘no further concerns were raised over his behaviour in respect of Prevent.’
In addition, the Prevent officers also carried out reviews at six and 12 months after he was discharged from the Channel process, and ‘nothing of concern was identified to prompt any further intervention from Channel or Prevent,’ the statement said.Â
Detectives now question whether Hussein may already have been set on a path to rightwing extremism and Satanism.
Police know that Hussein accessed the dark web but not what he viewed or who he talked to because he refused to give them the password to his laptop which had been used to surf the ‘dark web’
They could not fully access his Apple iPad and police never found his mobile phone.
‘There’s not really a huge amount of information about how he became fascinated with demons and the occult because it was all done, behind locked doors in his bedroom essentially,’ Mr Harding said.
Heartache of the friend who partied with sisters before they died
Nina Esmat was one of Bibaa Henry’s oldest friends. She had known her since she was 16 when they worked together at Brent Cross shopping centre.
Plans to celebrate Ms Henry’s birthday had been delayed because of lockdown but the rules had been relaxed to allow up to six people to meet outside from June 1.
‘Bibaa was very excited about getting together having had lockdown,’ she said.
On the way she stopped to pick up ‘picnic nibbles’ and was messaging her friend Trupti Shah, who also knew Ms Henry well, and was joining her there.
Ms Esmat arrived at the park just before 8pm, explaining: ‘I had done a bit of a recce where I had driven past.’
The park opened up into ‘long meadowy grass’ and it was ‘quite obvious’ where her friend had laid out the blankets.
‘I sent her a text saying I think I know where you are,’ she said.
‘Bibaa had been prepared for this I was amazed the things she had brought to make sure everyone was comfortable. I brought a camping chair and there were fairy lights.’
A friend called Paul arrived on bicycle and Trupty who was ‘always late’ arrived half an hour afterwards.
Ms Henry’s daughter, Monet, joined the group, as did a friend called Anthony from school who had recently reconnected with Ms Henry after a night at a comedy club.
‘It was lovely to get together with people after the first lockdown,’ Ms Esmat said. ‘It was a beautiful evening, a beautiful sunset we were all taking pictures.
Nicole, known as Nikki, ‘had brought fun card games and we were laughing along, talking to Monet about her pregnancy and the baby that was coming. It was just really positive.’
The sisters had brought a speaker for the music and solar fairy lights that started to come on as it got dark.
‘I got very cold and I remember Nicky giving me one of the blankets she was sitting on and she said, ‘You can stay a bit longer now.”
Ms Esmat and Ms Shah ended up being the last to leave, saying goodbye to the sisters who were having a last dance in the twilight.
‘I remember getting to my car about 11.45pm or midnight,’ Ms Esmat said.
‘Nikki and Bibaa at that point had started dancing. We had talked about how they were going to get home. Nicky had talked about getting a train and we said just get an Uber.
‘It was just a lovely time, hugging and dancing. My feeling was they were going to pack up quite soon, we talked about alternative things that could happen after and I just said I had a lot on the next day.
‘I had the impression they were not going to stay long but it felt like a safe space.’
They were drinking white wine spritzers and Ms Henry had bought a half-full gin bottle and said, ‘Let’s have some gin and tonics.’
On Saturday, Ms Esmet texted her friend to ask: ‘How are you feeling? How was the end of the night?’, then sent her photos of the sunset she had taken by Whatsapp.
‘She took some fantastic photos she was very proud of this remote control and we were all posing and jumping in the air when it was still light.
‘She had changed [her profile picture] to one of the photos from that night, of all of us, and looking back, that photo change made me feel like things were OK- I had assumed that photo had taken place the next day.’
The message showed one tick, indicating it had been delivered but not read, and she thought that was ‘really strange’ but ‘didn’t feel that worried.’
She first became concerned for Ms Henry’s safety when a friend called Joanne contacted her the next morning at around 10am or 11am through Facebook Messenger.
‘I think I phoned her, because Joanne was saying just call me. As soon as I heard her voice I knew something was wrong, it filled me with dread.
‘The fact lots of people were trying to get hold of them, they hadn’t come home. Nina, Bibaa’s mum, was quite frantic. I knew something was really wrong.’
‘We had a conversation. She explained that Adam, Nicky’s partner, was making his way to Fryent Park.
‘I decided to go because he didn’t know the park and where we were sitting. I was really, really worried and thought we need to do something and put my bike in the back of my car and drove to the park to find Adam.
‘It was about 11.45 in the morning. I couldn’t see anything. I think I texted Nina said I couldn’t see anything here, it made me feel reassured.
‘Me and Adam were struggling to find one another, I think he had come in another entrance. I was riding my bike around I didn’t know what I was doing to be honest, it was very surreal.
‘When we found each other and I showed him where we were sitting, it was then I noticed Bibaa’s glasses. They were tinted, she had only just got them that night, and she was really, really proud of them.
‘Then my heart sank I thought she would not have left them behind.’
‘In my experience in murder investigations, my colleagues will say the same, we always seem to come to the same problem, getting into certain devices, and asking to get into them and sometimes being refused due to whatever reasons there might be.
‘I personally find it strange that you wouldn’t help in those certain situations because the reason you want to get in there is to understand if there are other people with a similar mindset that he’s talking to that we would need to get into interventions or whatever it might be.
‘So I think it’s incredibly frustrating to run a murder inquiry when your hands are tied behind your back in that way.’
What browsing history police were able to recover, showed Hussein was in communication with others and they talked about different ‘demons and different spells,’ Mr Harding said.
‘It’s another form of radicalisation for him in terms of what he’s seeing and what he’s being encouraged to look at on the dark web,’ the officer added.
‘He was talking to other people, who were like minded, about spells and some of those spells where to do with trying to make women, fancy him.’
A paper folder under the TV in Hussein’s bedroom had spells seeking to make himself more attractive to women.
A second pledge was addressed to Queen Byleth, a reference to the wife of the king of hell, and included the name of a female classmate.
In it Hussein listed ‘my requests’ as ‘making [redacted] fall deeply in love with me to the point where she isn’t interested sexually nor romantically in anybody but me.
‘To make [redacted] believe and see that I am the only one for her, make [redacted] fall so deeply in love with me where she shows and expresses her love for me, making me more attractive to women romantically.’
On the other side of the page was a heading: ‘Queen Byleth, your requests: every two weeks burn incense in your name, offer some sweet drink, offer chocolate, buy more red candles, offer some blood.’
Scotland Yard’s SO15 Counter-Terrorism Command was involved with the investigation at a very early stage but the attack was not deemed to come from a political, religious or ideological motive.
‘We had people come over look at stuff, and that’s been maintained throughout this investigation to gather as much information as we can about Hussein, and things that he looks at, so that’s always been ongoing,’ Mr Harding said.
‘It’s difficult for any normal person to comprehend firstly, what he did, but then what kind of motive he had because it’s not a motive that we see for murder in any case that we’ve ever had. It’s very strange, it’s almost sort of movie-like.
‘I don’t understand how he got into it but then he is a particularly arrogant young man, a young man with an ideology, and he’s willing to do that with such calmness I would suggest as well. He’s quite a frightening character at 18 years old.
‘I hope it is the last time we see something of this nature but I think it’s something which is certainly growing and we’ve had discussions very early on to get more of an understanding around thoughts and ideologies of such people.’
Police have seen no evidence of any outside encouragement but admit: ‘We haven’t managed to get into the deepest, darkest parts of his thought, which we think will be hidden in his computer somewhere.’
But, they add: ‘There’s no evidence whatsoever that anybody else is involved in this at all. It’s just him in his bedroom. All we see is him.’
Two Metropolitan Police Service officers who were supposed to be guarding the murder scene overnight were charged with misconduct after posing with the dead bodies and sharing the images on Whatsapp.
The two officers, aged, 47, and, 32, were based at the North East Command, and were charged following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The 17-hour delay in police launching a search is also the subject of an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Hussein’s father, Kamal, who was present throughout the trial, runs a convenience store in Leyton, East London.
His parents had split up and his mother was bringing up Hussein with his two younger siblings in Eltham, South, London.
After leaving Thomas Tallis School in Kidbrooke, Hussein was meant to go on to study for BTEC qualifications at Orpington College but only went in three or four times before dropping out.
Nevertheless, after the killings he was planning to travel to the US to work at a children’s summer camp.
Hussein had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder while at school, and after his arrest, he was seen four or five times by mental health specialists but nothing found suggesting he was delusional at the time of the attacks.
His school friends found him ‘strange sometimes’ and ‘strange around women like an awkward teenager’, but nothing to indicate what he was really up to, police say.
Police described Hussein’s family life as ‘fairly unremarkable’. At the time of the murders he was staying with his father and his grandmother’s house, a short walk from Fryent Country Park.
His father had accompanied him to hospital to have his hand stitched, after Hussein apparently told him he had been stabbed in a mugging.
Police say the family ‘have not engaged’ with them since the initial arrest and his mother has left London and not returned.