Boyfriend ‘screamed and fell to knees before bodies of partner and sister’

A young man has tearfully described how he fell to his knees and screamed when he found the lifeless bodies of his girlfriend and her sister in a park.

Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were allegedly savagely attacked by Danyal Hussein, 19, following his blood pact with a demon to win the lottery.

Earlier that night, they had been celebrating Ms Henry’s birthday with friends in Fryent Country Park in Wembley, north-west London.

On Monday, Ms Smallman’s boyfriend Adam Stone broke down at the Old Bailey as he told of his frantic search for his girlfriend and her sister.

Mr Stone, who had known Ms Smallman for six years, had not been at the party on June 5 last year but have given her money for a minicab home.

Just after 1am on June 6, he received a last text message from her saying: “I’m dancing in a field.”

The next day she did not respond to his reply and he became increasingly worried that neither her friends nor family had seen her, the court heard.

He reported Ms Smallman missing to police and even attempted to track her mobile phone, without success, the jury was told.

By the morning of Sunday June 7, Mr Stone decided to go in search of Ms Smallman in the park where she had been last seen, the court heard.

Speaking from behind a screen in court, he said: “I spoke to my mum and said we need to go looking. I received a message from Nicole’s mum, the address where they had gone.”

Once in the park, he separated from his parents and they began searching by “shouting and looking in bushes”, he said.

He met up with Ms Bibaa’s concerned friend Nina Esmat on top of a hill, the court heard .

He said: “She was already at the position where they had been the night before. She had found some sunglasses.

“I think she called the police and they told her to bring the glasses to the station.”

Mr Stone he found a second pair of glasses but left them where they were “just in case it was a crime scene”.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC asked: “At this point how are you feeling?”

Mr Stone haltingly replied: “Terrified.”

He said he kept searching the park with his parents after Ms Esmat left to go to the police station.

His father indicated he had found something and Mr Stone ran over and saw a knife on the ground, jurors heard.

He said: “The second I saw the knife I started running. I already had my phone ringing 999.”

He spotted some shoes in undergrowth and ran round and “dived into the bushes”, he said.

Mr Stone became emotional as he described finding the two women’s bodies.

Mr Glasgow said: “Did you touch either of the bodies?”

Mr Stone said: “No. I fell to my knees in front of Nicole.”

Mr Glasgow said: “Was it obvious to you she was dead?

The witness replied: “Yes. I was on the phone to the police at the time.

“I screamed and I saw my mum and dad were a couple of metres behind me.

“I jumped up and turned around, gave my phone to my dad.

“I was still connected to 999 and grabbed them by the shoulders and told them not to look in there.”

Earlier, Ms Esmat had described her feelings of “dread” after attending her friend’s party, which had been decked out with blankets, cushions and fairly lights.

Describing the atmosphere of the party, she said: “It was lovely to get together with people after lockdown.

“It was a beautiful evening, amazing view, amazing sunset.

“We were all taking pictures remarking on the sky at night.”

Ms Esmat was one of the last to leave at around 11.45pm while the sisters stayed on, the court heard.

She told jurors: “I had the impression they were not going to stay long.

“It felt a safe space.”

Afterwards, Ms Esmat texted Ms Henry by WhatsApp to ask about her evening and sent her some photographs from the party but heard nothing back.

She went on: “The next morning her cousin messaged me and as soon as I heard her voice I knew something was wrong.

“I was filled with dread.”

She told jurors how she spotted Ms Henry’s new designer prescription sunglasses in the grass.

“I saw them glinting in the sun and my heart sank.

“I just knew she would not have left them behind.”

Her concern heightened after a second pair of glasses was found.

She said: “It was all horrendous because prior to finding Bibaa’s glasses I had some reassurance there was nothing there.

“It looked as if they had packed up their stuff and left.

“But to find the glasses, they were a bit mangled, that filled me with dread.

“It was the second pair of sunglasses, we were both very apprehensive.”

Ms Esmat set off to Wembley police station to hand in the glasses, leaving Mr Stone to continue the search.

She said. “He just said to me ‘I don’t know what to do’ while I was gone and, I regret saying this, I just said ‘if you can bear it just keep looking’.”

While in the police station, she heard messages on the radio about Fryent Park, the court heard.

Ms Esmat said: “Adam eventually texted me to say ‘I’ve found them. They are gone’.

“I knew what he meant but I did not want to believe it.

“I did reply ‘what do you mean they are gone?’

“He said ‘they are dead’.”

Hussein, of Guy Barnett Grove, Blackheath, south-east London, has denied double murder and possessing a knife.