All language subtitles for Two.Daughters.2022.1080p.WEBRip.x264-CBFM_[eng]

This programme contains scenes which
some viewers may find upsetting

Hi, Jeanette. It's Mina here.

Sorry to phone so early.

THEY LAUGH

Nikki and Bibaa have gone missing
for over 24 hours.

We've let the police know, but we're
really getting concerned.

As a priest, I have walked alongside
people who have lost those

that they love and I haven't had
the answers.

You know, there are some priests

who have walked away from
their faith.

No-one wants to outlive their
children.

It's horrendous.

Two years ago,
on Friday the 5th June,

sisters Bibaa and Nicole were
celebrating Bibaa's birthday

in a park in North London...

..when they disappeared.

The police were called the next day,

but they didn't send anyone
to the park.

By Sunday, family and friends
mounted their own search

and found the bodies of both Bibaa
and Nikki.

They had been brutally murdered.

But the first most people heard
of this tragic story

was 18 days later, when it came out
that two policemen had been arrested

for taking and distributing
selfies of the women's bodies.

The girls' mum, Mina Smallman,

has asked me to help her tell
the story of what's happened

since that horrendous night.

Today, exactly a year on
from the murder,

it would have been Bibaa's birthday.

Mina has just texted saying,

"Happy birthday, Bibaa. 47 today.

"We love you and miss you
every day."

I have absolutely no idea how
Mina will be feeling today.

It's such a significant day, it's...

..the anniversary of the
girls' death coming up,

and today it's Bibaa's birthday

and the first birthday
that she's not here.

It's an unbelievable situation that
Mina and Chris find themselves in.

Hello!

Hello, you.
Hello. Lovely to see you.

Mina lives in Ramsgate on the
east coast with her husband, Chris.

These are for Bibaa. Ah!
Got her flowers. Thank you.

Chris is Nikki's dad and was also

very close to Mina's other
daughters, Monique,

who lives in Holland, and Bibaa.

This photo's stunning.

You look incredible, Chris.
Thank you very much.

Your Monique, Bibaa.

There she is. Mina and Nicole.
Yeah, yeah.

Nicole's the baby. Yeah, yeah.

She would have been 27
this year, yeah, in August.

But they got on really well,
even though...sort of big age gap.

Oh, yeah, yeah, really close,
all three of them, yeah.

Bibaa was always the party animal
out of the three.

She was always very bubbly and she
had a really close relationship,

particularly with Nicole cos
Nicole was the baby. Yes. So...

And tell me a bit about Nicole.
You know, what was your Nicole like?

She should have been born in
the '60s. She was a hippie.

That's... And her boyfriend, Adam,

the two of them were hippies,

they loved animals,
she's mad on animals.

And I said, "Do you know what,
I could just see you and Adam

"living on a barge with four dogs
playing music, you know."

Like Noah's Ark. Yeah, absolutely.
STACEY CHUCKLES

Nikki was an artist and was just 26
when she was killed.

Her big sister, Bibaa, was a
social worker, specialising

in child protection.

She was 46, a mother and about to
become a grandmother.

This is the first time she hasn't
been here for her birthday. Yeah.

Mm. Well, there's like a hole,
isn't there? Something missing.

The only way I can cope with it is

that I am only partially engaged
with the reality of it.

I think that's a good way of
putting it across. Yeah.

Almost like it's not really
happened, trying to, you know,

like half reality you said. Yeah.
Erm...

But it hits you at different times.

That's grief, isn't it? Yeah.

It's not linear,
it's not predictable.

In 2013, Mina became the first woman
of colour to become an archdeacon.

But in the year just gone,

her faith has been tested as never
before.

With the trials of both the man
accused of killing her daughters

and the two Met police officers

who shared photos of their bodies
coming up,

the next few months are
going to be tough.

Today, at the end of this day,

is the point at which they died.

And it could be that tonight

I have one of my meltdowns,

which are very necessary.

I mean, talk me through what
that looks and feels like.

It's like a dam. It's like...

I can't...I can't do this any more.

Something snaps...

..and when it snaps, um...

..to be honest with you...

..I actually want to join my girls.

I don't want to be here,

and it's only because the girls have
gone

and I know the pain it has caused
to lose someone you love...

..I couldn't...

..I couldn't do it to Chris.

And Monique.

But, um, having a faith...

Shall we stop there for a minute,
maybe? No, it's fine. It's fine.

But that's what a meltdown
feels like.

It feels like everything in your
soul and being

is, um... You don't want to be here.

But I need to do this, um,

because I've spent a lifetime

fighting for boys and girls,

and I did it for them,
now I'm doing it for my girls.

You're under arrest. Come out,
come out of the address.

Keep walking towards me.

Within a month of the murders,
a 19-year-old man was arrested.

His DNA had been found at the scene.

Hands on your head.

It's now the day before his trial
begins at the Old Bailey.

Chris and Mina are going to stay

with friends in London during the
week.

We've got to get ready for the
trial over the next four weeks.

Do you want to put your shoes on?

I've still got to get my shaver.
All right.

The packing. It all becomes part of
a worry

on top of the worry, you know.

What...what's going to happen,

how it's going to happen,

and it's the only thing I can
control, really, it's, um...

I can control this bit,
I can't control what comes next.

I think what we are dreading
the most

is the day when they go through
the details of how they died.

That's...that's what
I find difficult.

The case has taken 11 months
to come to trial.

Over the next few weeks, Mina and
Chris are going to hear every detail

of what happened that weekend
in June 2020,

as Britain was just coming out of
the first Covid lockdown.

As the weather threatens, I think,
to take a turn for the worse,

some of you maybe tempted to move

the gatherings you've been
enjoying outdoors, indoors.

I really urge you, don't do that.

Because of lockdown, you weren't

allowed to meet inside at that
point,

so Bibaa had the idea of having
a picnic.

She only chose friends who could
get there and didn't have

to go by transport or anything.

They were so happy together,
you know, sort of skipping

into the into the park, all excited,

carrying all the possessions
for the party.

I was really pleased that they could
have time together.

The party in Fryent Country Park,
near Bibaa's home,

started just before dusk.

Bibaa liked the sunset. She wanted
all her friends to see the sunset

on her birthday,
how beautiful it is.

Bibaa asked her friends to bring
blankets, lights, food and drink.

When we were down the bottom, we
couldn't quite see where they were,

so we phoned, to find out where
they were,

and she was waving the lights from

at the top of the hill so we
could see.

With Covid rules still in place,

only Bibaa's closest friends
could come.

Yeah, she was enjoying it, with the
lights, wrapping it round her body,

taking pictures. Yeah, she was
enjoying herself. And her sister.

We were just sitting there
and we were drinking

and she was laughing and joking
and singing and partying.

By midnight everyone else had gone
home, but the sisters stayed on.

Nikki's boyfriend, Adam,
wasn't there for the party,

but Nikki WhatsApped him through
the evening.

Adam said, last message I got was,
you know,

"1:30, I'm dancing in a field.
Going home soon."

You can see they were just
having a wonderful time.

The following morning,

I sent a text out and left a message
with the girls

and said, "I hope you had a lovely
time, tell me all about it later."

Adam was also trying to reach Nikki.

Adam tried to contact Nikki

because she was meant to message him

when she was back, as we do

to our other halves, and, of course,
he'd not heard.

You used to love strawberries.

# Why won't eat a
strawberry for me? #

Nicole has a bearded dragon
that's like her baby,

so when she doesn't tell you what
to do with him,

to feed him or change his heat
lamp, then you know that something's

not right, so Emma messaged me,
being like,

"What's going on? Have you heard
from her?" And I hadn't.

And then I think Adam messaged me,

wondering if I had heard from her,
and then,

yeah, the Saturday evening was
really stressful.

I thought, at that point,
it's not normal behaviour,

so I phoned the police,
and I explained the situation,

I explained where the girls went
missing from.

I explained how long they'd
been missing, and there seemed

to be no sense of urgency.

There was no follow-up.

I was sending texts throughout
Saturday night,

I couldn't sleep and phoning them

and not getting any reply.

And that's when we knew,

on the Sunday morning,
we had to do something.

Hi, Jeanette. It's Mina here.
Sorry to phone so early.

I phoned my good friend, Jeanette,
and her husband is ex-CID.

Nikki and Bibaa have gone missing
for over 24 hours.

We've let the police know,
but we're really getting concerned.

I could hear, in her voice,

I could tell that she was
really worried.

This has gone from zero to sort of
100 on the risk factor for me.

I was saying to Chris on the phone,

"Chris, you've got to get on
the road."

With Chris on his way to London
and no sign of police,

friends put a missing poster up
on Facebook.

They called local hospitals

and then started their own search
of the park.

Nobody was going to the park

to go and look for them,

but we knew where we'd left them

so we were going to go back.

One of Bibaa's friends who'd been

with them contacted Adam on
the mobile and met up

so that she could show them where
they'd all been sitting.

I remember searching,
I just went to the police,

and then I was looking around
by myself in a massive field.

So I went for a walk and then,
suddenly, there's this knife there.

By the minute, things were looking
worse and worse all the time.

It was like, oh, they found the
glasses and then it went on to...

..I found a knife,
and at your point,

you just said, "Right, stop.
Stop there."

After finding a knife,
and still no sign of police,

Adam kept looking.

He ran over to look at some
nearby bushes, up the hill

and he worked his way down.

And I was still looking,
Jill was still looking.

And then there was this
horrible, guttural scream.

Thought, "Gosh, what's that?"

And then it went again. Yeah, yeah.

And I thought, "That's not Adam."

And then it went again
and it's like...

It takes a few seconds to...

..it's like the floor drops away,
you know,

cos I thought, "That is Adam."

And he just said, "Don't panic, Mum,

"don't panic, but they've gone."

And then, uh, we just, you know,
held on to each other.

Adam called the police again
and then phoned Mina.

Adam said, "Mina...Mina, I need you
to sit down.

"We've found them,
but they're gone."

After I got through the screaming,

I then thought, "Oh, my goodness,
Chris is on his way to the park,"

so I phone him up, I said,

"Chris they've found them
and they're gone."

And all he said was, "Effin' 'ell."

And just cried on the phone.

A week into the murder trial
at the Old Bailey,

Mina and Chris have been hearing the
details of what the police found

when they searched the
suspect's room.

REPORTER: Police discovered
a satanic plan

in a note in his bedroom.

It was a deal with a demon from hell

and it was signed in his own blood.

He wrote that he was prepared
to perform a minimum of

six sacrifices every six months.

And sacrifice only women.

And he was clear what he wanted in
return...

..win the Mega Millions
Super Jackpot.

He began buying lottery tickets.

We know now that in his warped mind,

he had some kind of a deal
with the devil.

How on earth do you prepare
yourself for this?

Yeah, there's no preparation.

The more you read, you know, the
detail of the little notes he wrote

and he had them in his bedroom,
the lottery ticket,

I thought it sounded like he
had been watching one of these

nasty videos, you know,
like some sort of horror film.

Physically and emotionally,

I didn't think I'd make it
to this point,

but I was determined to be here.

I think we know where it's going at
the moment.

I don't feel worried about anything,

other than what I've already been
worrying about anyway.

And I'm thinking about it all the
time,

every time I get up and go
to bed and whatever, um...

Is it all-consuming?
Yes, it is all-consuming, yeah.

It's all you think about.

Your faith, I mean,
has that sustained you?

My friend had prayed for me.

Um, and when they said

he had made a pact
with the demon, the devil,

suddenly, I just felt this peace
just descend on me.

I just felt full of the Holy Spirit.

I thought, "This is it.
This is my territory."

You know, "I understand this.
I'm the light, he's the darkness."

And I felt, "I can do this."

Since her girls first went missing,

Mina's faith has been a
constant source of strength.

She has invited me to join her
and Chris at Canterbury Cathedral,

a place sacred to her.

The place of prayer in the
cathedral.

I'm going to light one for both of
the girls.

Of course. I'll do Bibaa.

Chris, would you like to do
one for Nicole?

Place it... Yeah, great.

Let's pray together in this quiet
space.

God, our Father, we give thanks
as we remember Nicole and Bibaa,

give thanks for them,

and surround them with love.

We remember all who suffer violence.

And pray for them within the
name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,

who offered Himself for us,
as a sign of your care.

How was that?

That was amazing, actually. Um...

..that moment of silence
and everything, and the prayer,

I really felt that.

And I wasn't really in a hurry
to come back,

I could have sat there for
a lot longer,

but...it's great that I can do that.

You know, that I can still find
peace.

How do you feel sat here, Chris?
Does it give you anything?

Mixed really, yeah. Pleased for Mina
that she's found peace.

It's a beautiful building,
obviously, and setting,

so that's good.

Still upsetting, obviously.

Do you feel like you're being held
or that's not something that...?

No, for me, it doesn't
come into that, really.

Where do you think you would be now,
Mina, if, you know, you weren't

religious and you didn't have faith?

I think I would be a very angry,

bitter and twisted female.

Definitely.

And finding my faith has saved me
on numerous occasions.

And at times like this...

..you need it. You know, because...

..I don't know how people go
through what they go through

with no sense of there being
a higher purpose in this life.

And I know that's challenging
for a lot of people.

Often, when people have
circumstances like ours,

they think, "Well, you know,
how can a god allow this?"

You know, there are some priests who
have lost their children

and they've they walked away from
their faith.

I don't think it's a testament
of how strong your faith is,

it's about being able to hear
beyond the evil of this world.

You have to dig deep
when the bad times come.

Chris has been a rock for Mina
through all of this,

but he's struggling, too.

Morning!

He has his own way of
getting through the days.

Fairly constantly I feel and
think about

what happened that day, that night.

And I still talk to the girls
before I go to sleep

and sometimes in the morning,
when I wake up.

It's always going to be there.

Do you play tennis every week? Yeah.

Just a bit of escapism, right?
It is, it's huge escapism.

Take your mind off... That's it.
..all the awful stuff going on.

Um, but it's just finding ways
to switch off

and support Mina when she's going
through her, you know,

her dark period every so often, when
she, you know, really struggles.

Yeah. Mina has said that, actually.

Thank God she's got her faith,

cos that has been like
a pillar of strength.

I mean, does that help you?

Because I know you're not
particularly religious, are you?

No, I'm not religious.

I'm confirmed so I will take
communion,

but I have no passion for
faith, particularly.

And after what has happened,
to be honest,

I find it even more difficult

to comprehend how,
if there is a God,

He would let something happen
to our family. Yeah.

Does it get any easier, Chris?
That's a difficult one.

Um, I don't think it ever will get
easier, will it?

I think it's... I'm just trying to

keep it on the same level at
the moment, sort of thing. Yeah.

But, you know, you think about...

..things. I'm getting upset now.
Oh, sorry.

Yeah, no, it's difficult.

It's all the things that she's
not going to have, you know.

Like some other women who are
victims of male violence,

Bibaa and Nikki were unlucky to be

in the wrong place at the
wrong time.

But what happened after they died
had nothing to do with bad luck.

REPORTER: Two police officers have
been arrested, suspended

for misconduct in a public office
over allegations that they shared

selfies beside the bodies of two...

..PC Lewis and PC Jaffer
have been assigned to guard

the crime scene to
preserve its integrity,

but the two officers breached
the cordon and took photographs

of the two sisters' bodies,
which they shared on WhatsApp.

The police officers who were
supposed to be

protecting the crime scene
had taken selfies.

The allegations have been referred
to the Metropolitan Police's

Independent Office for
Police Conduct, the IOPC,

which is investigating.

They described the
allegations as "sickening".

How can I put this so people can
understand?

Any reserves we had

were then cut off!

Mina felt the story of the
selfies got far more attention

from the media than
her daughters' murders.

She is convinced that this - and the
slow initial police response -

was because they were black.

She's complained to the
police watchdog, the IOPC,

and is waiting for their report.

I am meeting a group of Bibaa's
friends, including her auntie

and a cousin. They were at the park

when the officers must have taken
the photos of the girls' bodies.

Are you all right? I'm good.
I'm good, thank you.

Losing someone that you love,
sort of goes without saying, is...

..so heartbreaking
and so traumatic...

..but the idea the two officers

then take photos of
Bibaa and Nicole...

When that became apparent,
how do you deal with that?

I don't know cos obviously we were
there for the whole of the time

that they were... We were down
the bottom, we saw them coming,

the forensics, we saw them just...

So, like, watching that and then
hearing that, I couldn't quite...

I was like, "Did we actually see

"those guys when we were down
the bottom?"

You know, police are not
supposed to do that. Mm-hm.

They're not supposed to do that.

They are the tip of the iceberg,
I honestly believe that.

They are just what happened
to pop up over the surface,

there has to be more.

There's 40 other officers that they
sent pictures to.

40!

When you send a picture
to 40 different people,

you know those 40 people think
the way that you think,

have done that before,

would be accepting of the behaviour

that came with those photographs,

That's scary.

That's just 40 that we know of.

It was devastating because on the

Sunday, we were at the park...

..and the police had just put
the cordon...the cordons up,

stopping people from going in.

And, um...

And then my brother started begging.

He begged the police to let him see
Bibaa.

And I remember really clearly,
the policewoman saying,

"Sorry, we can't do that.

"But we will look after them.

"We will take care of them.

"We will respect them.

"We will promise that," and that was

taken, that was stolen from us,

but it was stolen from them girls.

Those two police officers...

..did something worse

than them being murdered.

We can't change that, but the

dignity that they deserved

in their death, they took that

from them and I will never forgive

them for that, never.

As well as anger and grief,

Bibaa's cousin is also still
struggling to feel safe.

Do you still feel frightened?

For months...

..I stayed in Mum's room
for so, so long,

and then you start to isolate and
not go places,

and it just changes everything.

You're so on edge, all the time,

like, I don't go very long without
calling Mum.

I have to be on the phone
all the time.

SHE SNIFFLES

Even coming here, I'm like,
"Mum, I've finished work now,

"I'm on my way now, I'm waiting,
I'm waiting for you."

It's, like, constant. And sometimes
it gets to the point of a joke

and I drive her mad. I'll be calling
her at work all the time

and I'll be at work, at my desk.
THEY LAUGH

But it's like that sometimes, so...

SHE SNIFFLES

So, yeah.

I think it more just...just puts
everything into perspective,

but, yeah, you just have to
gain back that confidence

and go about doing things
and make your friends

and the people close to you aware
of certain things not to say.

And to make sure cos they forget,
when I say,

"Don't joke when I ask you, 'Where
are you?' or, 'Are you home?' or..."

Yeah. It's a lot more serious.

A lot more serious.

SHE SNIFFLES

After four weeks in the Old Bailey,

the judge is about to sum up

and send the jury out
to consider their verdict.

Mina and Chris have asked me
to come to the house of the friend

they've been staying with,
to catch up.

Hi!

Since we last talked, they've heard

the gruesome details of their
daughters' last moments.

What we had to listen to was

that Bibaa, in fact,

had been taken completely
by surprise.

Um, she had ten stab wounds

and they now think, because of the
angle, that he had two knives.

And there were no defence wounds,

that's how they know that she was
taken completely by surprise.

And, poor little Nic, she had how
many stab wounds, darling?

38 now. 38. So it's gone up again,
yeah.

38.

But what she must have gone through
watching Bibaa getting savagely,

you know, just... That's where we
all got really upset, obviously,

and just had to walk out.
Yeah. Just...

Yeah, and, you know, I don't know.

I'm hoping I won't always
remember that.

I don't think you can underestimate
what you've been forced to hear

over the last couple of weeks,
you know what I mean?

You've been so, like, dignified
and so bloody strong.

You know what I mean? Because you've
said to me, "The gloves are on,

"I have to get this sorted,
I have to.

"I have to make sure that... Yeah.
.."justice is served."

But...you're human. Yeah.

And they're your girls.

In the natural order of things,

nobody expects their children
to go before them

and, you know, with Covid,
people have had terrible times,

but if we'd have lost our girls
to Covid...

..we would be a year on in our
grief.

We have had to go back to day one,
all over again,

relive every moment of it, but now

we have the graphics as well,

so, you know, it's like being

part of a thriller movie,

only you're starring in it.

So, you know, you as the viewer
are watching it,

and thinking, "This is horrendous.

"Could you imagine this ever
happening to you?" Only this time...

It's like an out-of-body experience.
Yeah.

Only this time you are in the movie.

So this has been your life
for a month. Yeah.

How are you feeling about tomorrow?

OK. I feel all right about it, um...

..because, you know, I realise
how I cope with this

is by submerging my feelings
of a mum.

As a mum, I have...

I just want to go and curl up and
die somewhere, really,

but what keeps me going is justice.

Justice. Justice for all women
who...

You know, Sarah Everard, for women
who have been attacked

and raped and murdered, um...

Women who, you know,
domestic violence through this.

You know, we have to get this
stuff sorted, you know.

In that, I find my strength.

After just eight hours,
the jury returns.

They've reached a unanimous verdict.

REPORTER: A teenager who believed
he'd made a pact with a demon

to sacrifice women in order to win
the lottery has been convicted

of murdering two sisters

in a park in North West London
in June last year.

OK, first and foremost, I want to
pay tribute

to the family of Nicole and Bibaa.

This investigation has touched all
of us so deeply and we are glad

that the jury saw through
the ridiculous denials of

the overwhelming evidence
in front of them.

The murder trial's done, but Mina
and Chris know they'll be

back here soon. The officers who
took the selfies

will soon be coming to court
and they're also waiting

for the IOPC report into how

the Met handled the missing
persons calls that weekend.

I have made no bones about my

complaints with the Met Police
office.

Today, I have to say,
I can only commend them.

This is the kind of police force
that I believe in,

and we need to work towards
so that we have justice

and families are treated
with respect.

This is an unbelievable day for us,

but it's the first and there
are two more battles to go.

But today, we remember our girls

as the wonderful, strong women
they were.

The whole court case is a drama
in itself, you know, with the guys

in their wigs and the ladies and all
the court people moving around

and the jury. The whole situation
was, you know, out of my context.

Can you tell us a bit about Nicole
and Bibaa?

I think Mina's sort of activist work

at the moment is what's keeping
her going.

You know, that's the positive
for her.

We're surrounded by photographs,
we're surrounded by...

Well, we're still surrounded by
what's been going on with

the court cases and people now
picking up on Mina

cos she's such a good speaker.

So it's not being hidden away.

Mina, thank you for talking to us.

Could you ever imagine
forgiving him? I already have.

As a priest, I've done sermons.

When we hold hatred for someone,

it's not only them who are
held captive, it's you.

And that's the gift.

He has no power in our lives.

So, my personal battle is still

trying to distract as much
as possible to stop me thinking

about the awfulness of what
happened.

And I don't think that will ever go.

14 months after the girls' death,

a campaign group set up after
the murder of Sarah Everard,

Reclaim These Streets...

Hello, thank you for coming.

..is holding a vigil in Fryent Park
to remember Bibaa and Nikki.

It's the first time Mina has been

to the place her daughters were
murdered

and the first time Chris has
returned since

the day their bodies were found.

I feel compelled to go now,

just reflecting on the
girls' lives that I feel

I will let them down if I don't.

The reason I didn't want to go back
to the park was because of how awful

that day was. And the thought of
going back, knowing what happened

there now in more detail,

emotionally, I just didn't feel
I needed to do that.

But, in the end, I couldn't leave
Mina to go on her own.

I look around and what do I see?

I see beauty everywhere.

As a teacher and a priest,
I have given my life over

to raising boys and girls up
that people look down on

and didn't think that they
could ever be anybody.

Now I'm doing it for my girls.

I am so sick and tired of

white, grey, boring old men

telling us how to live our lives!

CROWD CHEERS AND WHOOPS

Who knew about our girls?

Why wasn't the outcry there
on two dead black girls?

And it wasn't because
I hadn't done interviews,

it didn't get the air time.

It wasn't on the front page.

And I'm calling out all
the editors and producers

and the people who decide
what is put in print.

We're going to be on front page
because I am only just beginning!

CROWD CHEERS AND WHOOPS

As well as being angry with the
media, Mina is still outraged that

the Met Police didn't respond
quickly enough to

the missing persons reports
that weekend.

I appreciate you...I appreciate you
being here.

HE SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY

But it is important you speak up
and we're so supportive.

She hopes the police watchdog
will say race did play a part

in the police response.

The fact that no officers were
sent to the park meant that Adam

had to find the bodies of his
girlfriend and her sister.

What he saw that day
has left him traumatised

and though he supported
us making this film,

he couldn't bring himself
to talk about Nikki on camera.

Hey, Jill.

But his mum and dad, Jill and Dave,
do want to share their memories

of the girl who they thought of
as a daughter.

Mina said to me, Nikki and Adam

was like a modern-day love story.

Yeah. They were just two peas
in a pod.

So she lived here with you
for five years.

Yeah, nearly five years, it was,
yeah. That's a long time.

Well, it was a joy to me,

because having two boys
and a husband, you know,

it was lovely. It was, you know,

like having a daughter living in
the house, yeah.

You weren't outnumbered.
No, I wasn't. No, no.

She was bright and bubbly, um,

so unassuming about things.

You never heard her say
a bad word about anything.

They were super creative,
weren't they, together?

They would make videos and...
Both artists, really.

She had the most beautiful voice.

She really did have the most
beautiful singing voice.

# I'm off to swim the river

# Regardless of the weather

# It helps to build a bond
between... #

How is Adam doing?

Well, we spent the first couple
of months,

this was our bedroom in here.

Cos he found it too difficult to go

in his bedroom that
he shared with Nicole.

The only way I can sort of describe
it with him is to say he's lost.

He's just completely lost, isn't he?

It's...it's very hard...

..to see him as he is now.

He probably feels that he's not
going to meet somebody like that

again, which must be pretty hard.

Yeah, bless her, Mina has always
been absolutely lovely,

hasn't she, about it?
You know, she's always said

nothing would please her more

than to hear, you know, he's
found... Found somebody else.

Yeah, yeah. To, you know,
share things with.

My understanding is...

..something that really infuriates

her, understandably so,

is the fact that Adam had

to find his Nikki.

You know, it can take people
a long time to get over grief,

but...and all the different sides
of grief, but it is

that vision that you just can't do
anything about.

And you just wish you could
erase it, but you can't

So...

Another tough day has come for Mina
and Chris.

More than 15 months after
Mina's initial complaint to

the police watchdog, the report on
the Met's response to

the missing persons calls has
finally been published.

"The Met Police Service has
been advised to apologise to

"the family of Nicole Smallman
and Bibaa Henry

"for failings identified by
an independent officer

"for police conduct..." -
so that's the IOPC -

"..into the way it handled missing
persons reports about the sisters."

There's an interesting line here.

"A call handler will also
receive a management action

"after they referred to a
missing person as a suspect.

"The evidence did not indicate that
this was a result of stereotyping

"or biased assumptions based on the
sisters' race or where they lived."

I can understand why some people
find that hard to believe

or it feels contradictory
because earlier on...

..you know, they're using
the word "suspect".

So, where have you got that word
from?

Even subconsciously, why are you
using that word when there's no talk

of the girls being a suspect?

They're the victims.

How many times can one
family be let down?

Hi. Hello, Stacey. Welcome.

Mina has been waiting a long time
for the report to be completed

and was hoping it would say that

race was a factor in how things
were handled.

Ah, girl.

MINA CHUCKLES

Oh, my tonic has arrived.
Oh, I don't know about that.

Give us your coat. Oh, thanks, mate.

She hasn't been answering her
phone for the last couple of days

and Chris tells me the
report has hit her hard.

I've come to Ramsgate to see how
she's doing.

Mina, how are you feeling today?

Um, better than the last few days.

The IOPC report...

..we had to read it through and...

..it's just so frustrating.

And you try to move forward.

You try...

..and, uh, move from
the pain, but all of this,

this missing persons,

that report represents a
time in our lives where

we were desperate for our children,
to find them,

that we had to put our own
search party together

and the Met wants to offer us
an apology?

Are they mad?

What are they thinking?

"Sorry" is what you say
when you bump into somebody.

This is me, Mum.

This is Mum.

SHE SNIFFLES

And this is the consequence,

so what happens is your

energy levels go to the ground

and if you keep pushing,
then I would...

..I could go back to being
bedridden again,

and so, you know, I just have energy

to shower and that's it.

I haven't even got energy
to moisturise my body.

You know, I thought I'd make an
effort and put earrings in.

SHE EXHALES SHARPLY

But I thought it was important
that people get to see

all aspects of this story

because normally when
I'm like this,

I don't allow people to see me.

I retreat and just regain my energy,

but I thought it was really
important

that people understand that,
on top of everything else,

we still have our conditions

and the toll that it's
taking on our lives.

You know, I hide away when I'm like
this because I feel less than...

..and I don't want pity or...

..but this is...this is what a
mother's grief looks like.

And the sense of
injustice is like...

..it just makes everything
ten times worse

because you can't move forward.

REPORTER: Two former police
officers who took pictures of two

murdered sisters in a London park

and then shared them on
WhatsApp groups

have each been jailed for nearly
three years. PCs Deniz Jaffer...

..47 and 33-year-old
Jamie Lewis pleaded guilty

to misconduct in a public office.
Our correspondent...

18 months to the day after Bibaa
and Nikki were killed,

Mina is talking to the press from
the steps of the Old Bailey

for what she hopes will be
the very last time.

The two officers caught sharing
photos have pleaded guilty

and have just been sentenced.

What's your reaction to
two years, nine months?

Uh, thrilled, actually.

We thought that they would be
given a suspended sentence,

but I think the judge really got it.

The court process is finally over

and the two Met policemen
are on their way to prison.

As Queen Elizabeth I said,

"I do not have windows
into men's souls,"

but I would say they are more
sorry that they got caught

than they are about what they did.

I feel sorry for their family.

I... You know, I know it's not
going to be easy for them,

but it hasn't been easy for us

and this additional pain and
suffering we've gone through

could have been avoided.

I'm hoping this sends
a signal to the Met

and all other police forces,

and gives strength to those who are
being abused and hearing language

that they detest, but are afraid to
speak up.

Speak up! Now's the time.

The good people are the ones
that should have voice.

They're the ones who
should have the power.

That's me. I'm done.
Well done, Mina.

SHE CHUCKLES
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks.

Right, let's go in and
disappear for a bit.

Almost nine months after we first
talked at their house in Ramsgate,

Chris and Mina have invited me
to Canterbury Cathedral once again.

Let's get a shovel.
There's one over there.

The dean has suggested they plant a
cherry tree in the cathedral gardens

in memory of the girls.

Do you want to just say the names of
your girls as we do this?

Mina's friend, Rose Hudson-Wilkin,
the Bishop of Dover,

is leading the ceremony.

Lord, this is for our girls.

May this tree be so beautiful that
it stops people in their tracks.

That they may be remembered.

So, Lord, bless this tree as
we plant it

and bless all those who will come

and who will see it
and admire its beauty.

May they also, deep in their hearts,

know the beauty of
Mina's and Chris' children.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Oh, I'm so pleased it's here,
this is perfect.

It's beautiful. The place of it is
perfect.

We'll be able to come here,

rather than the park where
the girls were murdered.

We can think of them without being
in the place of terror. Mm.

Are you in less pain now?

No. No.

Every time a young woman goes
missing

or, you know, we get
another revelation into

the toxic culture within police
forces, we go right back to day one.

Just every time anyone mentions

Nikki and Bib, I get a bit tearful,

but, like everything, it's a wave.

It come and goes in waves, you know.

Just have to keep thinking of other
things

and distract all the time... Yeah.

And I had my meltdown yesterday

and Chris took such good care of me.

And I know he's been really upset
today so,

you know, I'll take care of him.

And, you know, we're so silly,

the two of us,

we love a laugh and we...

I'm so cheeky to him

and he's so cheeky to me,

and that's how we get through it,

you know, we try and find something.

He's so grounding and, you know,

I'm the overthinker,
I'm the deep thinker,

but he grounds me.

If I didn't have him with me,

I would constantly be mulling over

the nightmare of this story.

I would...I would just be so
in on myself.

And when it's like that,
it can be very, very dark.

And so he pulls me out of it.

HE MOUTHS

How would you like people
to remember the girls?

As fun, outgoing girls who,
you know, got on with life

and made friends easily

and enjoyed a good party with
their mum, particularly. Mm.

It's really important to me

that we remember how they lived,
not how they died.

Bibaa, the amazing social worker,

who battled to make sure
children were safe,

that families weren't broken up.

THEY SPEAK INDISTINCTLY

THEY CHUCKLE

And Nikki, she was just a
ray of light everywhere

and I know that will
always be the way.

And I think that's what we
need to do, we need to find

the sunshine in the rain.

# Love

# Love

# My love

# My love

# My love

# My

# Love. #