'System is crumbling', says woman whose daughters were murdered

"It actually triggered me. You become so angry and frustrated that yet another family is going to have to suffer what we suffered," says Mina Smallman.

It is six years since her daughters Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were murdered, but it is now another case, which has cost the lives of two more women, that has left her "spiralling".

Simon Levy, a convicted sex offender, murdered two women, raped a third, and sexually assaulted others on London's public transport after police, prosecutors and courts made a series of disastrous decisions that left him free to roam the streets.

Smallman says the case shows the "whole system is crumbling" and is demanding commitments from Prime Minister Andy Burnham over how he will keep women safe.

Smallman, a former teacher and priest and now a women's safety activist, was so incensed over the Levy failings that she fired off a series of messages to contacts including the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.

"When I read into the case, my heart sank," she says. "There were echoes of things that we were promised wouldn't happen any more.

"I actually sent a text to Sir Mark Rowley and I said, 'How many times are you going to stand outside Scotland Yard and say, I'm sorry?'"

Speaking to the BBC several days later, at her home in Birchington-on-Sea in Kent, she explains she has since spoken to Sir Mark.

"He, of course, is really sorry, but he acknowledges that the system is broken," she said.

"You know, it wasn't just the Met that let these families down, it was the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), it was the court system, it was the prison system, it was everyone.

"Anyone and everyone that has a duty to ensure that these people don't slip through the net."

Smallman says she is "mystified" over the repeated failings to stop Levy.

"I don't understand why a man with a record such as his could not turn up for court appearances and he's not taken in. I don't understand," she said.

"The only way to understand is: the whole system is crumbling. The problem is that each organisation doesn't work together, they don't talk to one another."

The Met and British Transport Police, along with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), have all apologised over a series of decisions that left Levy free to attack women.

Smallman fears those apologies will ring "hollow" to those who have suffered at the hands of Levy, including the families of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, who he murdered in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins, 39, who he killed five months later.

Smallman previously described an apology from Sir Mark's predecessor, Dame Cressida Dick, over her own daughters' case as "like a slap in the face".

Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were murdered in June 2020 at Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north London by teenager Danyal Hussein.

Two police officers, Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis, were jailed in December 2021 after taking photos of the bodies of the women and sharing the images in WhatsApp groups.

Smallman also believes that a search for her daughters was not initially launched by police because of their ethnicity.

She has accused officers in the Levy case of making assumptions about the lifestyle of the victims, as he targeted vulnerable women working in the sex trade.

Valencia-Trujillo's death was not treated as a murder, or passed to specialist homicide detectives, until after Levy had killed again.

"If that woman had been the daughter of a politician there wouldn't have been any discussion about it," she said.

"She was somebody's daughter. And the police and the judicial system, their job is not to decide who matters. Everyone matters."

The Met has said the cause of Valencia-Trujillo's death was inconclusive and detectives did not have enough evidence to charge Levy.

A force spokesperson said: "We have acknowledged where the Met fell short and we take that accountability seriously."

They added that "a collective approach" was needed across policing, courts and probation to "better manage dangerous and repeat offenders".

Horrified by what she had read about Levy, Smallman says she had expected to hear a statement last week from Burnham after the killer received a whole-life sentence.

But she says she is "really cross" that the prime minister has not publicly addressed such serious failings.

What would her message be to him?

She said: "We need to do things differently. This piecemeal approach to the safety of women and girls has to stop and there has to be a working together - and a working together as equals. Nobody's got superiority."

She says she would like to bring together some of the "passionate change-makers" from different organisations to meet him.

Smallman says she has never been invited to Downing Street over the years, despite seeing other bereaved families offered that opportunity.

However, she adds that she refuses to appear alongside politicians she believes are using her "as a photo opportunity".

From October, the government plans to release thousands of offenders from jail early, as part of new laws to create more space in overcrowded prisons.

"Anybody in prison for violence should not come out early," Smallman says, arguing that police and probation services do not have the resources to manage the risk.

Among Labour's manifesto promises is a target to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. Does she think that is possible?

"I don't know. I'm not a fan of statistics," she said. "They can be distorted any way you like. Of course I want it halved. I want it to be eradicated completely.

"Statistics mean nothing if it doesn't come with: 'We've caught your attacker and he's never coming near you again.'"

Smallman also wants more action to tackle the root causes of misogyny, which she says is driving the violence.

"Our young men and teenage boys are being radicalised," she said. "They're being given this lie about femininity and what it is to be a real man.

"Because of social media, they are connecting with people all over the world who are angry and frustrated, and they're being manipulated by people who are dangerous. I see them as terrorists.

"It should be treated like terrorism."

A government spokesperson said the Simon Levy case was "horrifying" and "raises serious questions".

"It is right that the IOPC [Independent Office for Police Conduct] is investigating, and the organisations involved are conducting internal reviews. Any failures must be identified and never repeated," they said.

They added that it was a "top priority" to protect the public.

"Rape, serious child sexual abuse and grooming offences are already blocked from upcoming changes to prison sentences, and we are fast-tracking a plan to keep more of the most dangerous offenders behind bars," they said.

Smallman's fear is that once headlines about Levy disappear, then authorities can move on, leaving victims to fight for change.

"Unless the families keep their foot on the gas pedal, it slips away. We all have the same motive - we all don't want this to happen to another family," she said.

Reflecting on her initial reaction to the case, she says it had caused her to respond as "a wounded mother" rather than her usual "calm and focused" approach.

"But I'm glad in some ways," she adds. "I'm sick of being measured. Something needs to change and it needs to change now."

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