±«Óãtv

In her first ±«Óãtv interview since Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick's resignation, Mina Smallman tells Emma Barnett on ±«Óãtv Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour that she believes she was gaslit by Dame Cressida over the investigations into the Met Police's handling of her daughters’ murders.

Mina Smallman is the mother of the murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman who were stabbed to death in a park in Wembley in 2020, having been enjoying birthday celebrations.

Two Met Police constables were sent to guard the scene where the sisters’ bodies were found, and instead left their post to take photos of the women and send mocking messages about them on WhatsApp groups.

They pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office, were sacked and then jailed for 33 months in December.

Mina also spoke about how triggering she found the report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct which revealed the behaviour of some Met Police officers at Charing Cross station. It found that some officers joked about rape and exchanged offensive social media messages.

In a statement, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "We have apologised wholeheartedly to Bibaa and Nicole’s family for the actions of PCs Jaffer and Lewis. Their behaviour is utterly repugnant and horrifying to us all and they are in prison because of it.

"The Met has been rocked by a series of awful events, including the appalling behaviour displayed by officers at Charing Cross police station, which we know have deeply damaged the trust and confidence people have in us. We are working very hard to rebuild that trust.

"Part of rebuilding that trust is owning our failures and telling the public where we have got it wrong and what we are doing about it. The Independent Office for Police Conduct and others thoroughly scrutinise our actions.

"The Commissioner has asked Baroness Louise Casey to lead an independent and far-reaching review into our culture and standards of professional and personal behaviour. The review will ask difficult questions to ensure there are lasting improvements to the service we provide for all Londoners.

"While this process is on-going we recognise that we need to take urgent action to improve. We have already boosted the number of investigators in our professional standards department to strengthen our capability to root out people who abuse their positions of trust."

You can listen to the full interview via ±«Óãtv Sounds. Just search for Woman's Hour and the podcast episode from 15 February.

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