A Metropolitan Police officer from Colchester has been sacked after he and a colleague took "shameful" photos of two murdered sisters in a London park.

Jamie Lewis, 33, of Colchester, and former officer Deniz Jaffer, 47, of Hornchurch, east London, described murdered sisters Bibba Henry and Nicole Smallman as "dead birds" when sharing messages on WhatsApp groups after they strayed from the cordons where they were supposed to be guarding the crime scene.

The two sisters were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London in June 2020.

The officers both pleaded guilty to sharing the photos at a hearing at the Old Bailey earlier this month.

Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball, who was chairing an accelerated tribunal in west London on Wednesday, decided both men had committed gross misconduct.

She said: “This was hurtful, dishonest and unprofessional behaviour of the utmost seriousness.

“I am sorry that our officers behaved in such a hurtful, disrespectful and criminal way.

"Their actions are shameful.”

Lewis will be dismissed from the Metropolitan Police immediately, and Jaffer — who has already quit the force — would have been dismissed without notice if he was still a serving officer.

The pair have already been warned they face “lengthy” jail terms when they are sentenced next month for misconduct in a public office.

Neither Lewis or Jaffer attended the misconduct hearing, and neither disputed the evidence.

The tribunal ruled that the two officers breached six established police standards, including confidentiality, and honesty and integrity, as well as authority, respect and courtesy.

Pc Helen Tierney, outlining the case against the men, said the pair were placed at a cordon to protect the crime scene in the early hours of June 8 2020.

But both left their posts to take unauthorised pictures of the bodies on their phones, and shared them with colleagues, while Jaffer also sent them to members of the public.

The tribunal heard that Lewis sent a picture message of the dead women in a police WhatsApp group shortly before 4am, writing: “Unfortunately I’m sat next to two dead birds with stab wounds.”

Jaffer made a similar reference to being “with two dead birds” in a separate WhatsApp group which included members of the public.

Less than an hour later, Lewis sent a superimposed selfie-style photo of himself with the victims visible in the background to Jaffer.

Neither man reported the other’s behaviour to bosses.

The hearing was told that Lewis separately “responded with approval” to another officer who stated he was going to be posted to a new location which had fewer Asian people in.

Pc Tierney said: “They behaved in a manner that discredits the police force and undermines the public confidence in it.”

The pair are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on December 6.

Satanist Danyal Hussein, 19, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years for murdering Ms Henry and Ms Smallman.