Danyal Hussein guilty of murdering two sisters he stabbed to death 'in demonic pact'

6 July 2021, 15:19 | Updated: 6 July 2021, 18:16

Victims' mother speaks out after Danyal Hussein guilty of murdering two sisters

A man has been found guilty of the savage murder of two sisters who he stabbed to death in a north London park after a birthday celebration.

Danyal Hussein, 19, repeatedly stabbed Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, after using his own blood to sign a pact with mythical King Lucifuge Rofocale, the Old Bailey heard.

Jurors heard Hussein pledged to kill six women every six months in a "campaign of vengeance" to win the Mega Millions Super Jackpot of £321 million.

In another sinister note, he offered blood to 'demon Queen Byleth' to make a girl at his school fall in love with him.

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His killing spree ended because he cut himself during the frenzied attack on the sisters, enabling police to track him through DNA.

Hussein was found guilty on Tuesday of two counts of murder and possession of a knife with intent after a jury deliberated for around eight hours.

He will be sentenced on September 22.

He stood facing the jury and crossed his arms and shook his head as the verdicts were delivered in front of the victims' sobbing parents.

In a victim impact statement read to court, the sisters' mother Mina Smallman said: "No-one expects their children to die before them but to have two of your three children murdered overnight is just incomprehensible."

She added: "If any good comes out of this at least another four women will not meet a similar end in a so-called pact with a so-called demon."

It can now be reported that Hussein had come to the attention of police aged just 15 over fears he was vulnerable to radicalisation and violent extremism.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding revealed 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 he had communication with others about demons and love potions, and carried out online research about the far-right and Norse mythology.

But the depths of his cult-like ideology remain unknown because Hussein refused to hand over his passwords for his iPad.

Mr Harding described Hussein as "arrogant" and "evil" saying he acted like a "belligerent child" in court.

The senior officer said: "He's shown complete disrespect to the court system, turning his back on the judge, trying to stare out the family, and laugh, and sticking up loser signs.

"He has behaved like a teenage boy but he has committed some of the most savage crimes we have seen for many years in one of the biggest police investigations we have had for a very, very long time.

"I firmly believe he would have carried out his contract. He would have carried on killing women, until he had killed the first six. If he had not won the lottery by that stage - every six months is what he said.

"He is where he should be and will be for a very long time. Even though he is only 18 he is a very, very dangerous individual."

The trial heard how Hussein prepared for the killings by buying a set of knives from Asda, a black balaclava on Amazon and signing up to a lottery betting website.

In the early hours of June 6 last year, he stalked his victims as they celebrated Ms Henry's birthday in Fryent Country Park in Wembley, laughing and dancing with fairy lights.

Hussein took Ms Henry by surprise, stabbing her eight times, before he slashed Ms Smallman 28 times as she bravely fought back, sustaining multiple defensive injuries.

Hussein dragged them by the feet into bushes where they lay undiscovered for 36 hours, their limbs entwined.

During the savage attack, Hussein cut his right hand with the 12cm knife which he dropped in the grass.

He attempted to clear the scene and disposed of the sisters' mobile phones in a pond before returning to his father's house in Wembley just after 4pm, without his trousers.

Over the next 10 days, Hussein spent £162.88 on lottery tickets and bets - all without success.

On the evening of June 6, the sisters' loved ones reported them missing but officers were not deployed to the park until the next day.

Before police arrived, Miss Smallman's frantic boyfriend Adam Stone, who could not believe she would have left their pet bearded dragon unattended, began searching the park with his parents.

He was on the phone to police when he found the bodies at around 12.30pm.

Mr Stone broke down in court as he told how he ran into bushes and fell to his knees before his girlfriend's body after his father found a knife in the grass nearby.

Officers, who carried out a painstaking search, identified blood stains on the knife, bodies and surrounding scene all linked to the DNA of an unknown male.

The national DNA database failed to identify the sample but on June 30, in a major breakthrough, a DNA familial link was made to Hussein's father, who had a past caution.

Within an hour and a half, Hussein was identified on CCTV buying knives in Asda and returning home after the murders.

Following his arrest, Hussein told police he had Asperger's syndrome and trouble with his memory, then refused to answer questions.

Searches of his bedroom at his mother's house in south-east London uncovered a book of spells, handwritten demon symbols and the two blood pacts.

The defendant disputed all the evidence against him but declined to go into the witness box.

Two police constables have been charged with misconduct in public office after allegedly sharing pictures of the crime scene on WhatsApp and are due to enter pleas later this month.

Separately, the Independent Office of Police Complaints is investigating over the response to the initial missing persons reports.

Olcay Sapanoglu, from the CPS, said the sisters' lives were "cruelly cut short in the most horrific of ways".

"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," she added.