Nearly 40,000 people have signed a petition calling for criminal charges to be brought against two police offices who allegedly took and shared selfies of the double murder scene where two sisters were stabbed to death last month.

Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were found dead at Fryent Country Park, Wembley, on June 6, both having suffered multiple stab wounds.

Teenager Danyal Hussein, of Kidbrooke, has been accused with the "unprovoked and random" double murder, and has this week appeared in court over the charges.

But the investigation was thrown further into the spotlight after it emerged that two police officers working on the case had been arrested and were being investigation for misconduct in public office, according to Scotland Yard.

Police said it had been informed of allegations of "non-official and inappropriate photographs" shared from the murder scene.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, who conducted the arrests, said the pictures were allegedly shared with a number of others, who the Met are now dealing with.

Bibaa and Nicole’s mother Mina Smallman accused the officers of dehumanising her daughters, and Met Police have said it is “horrified and disgusted by the allegations."

IOPC director for London Sal Naseem, said: “These are sickening allegations and when we were made aware by the Metropolitan Police, we acted quickly to arrest the officers involved in order to seize vital evidence.

“The victims’s family are naturally extremely distressed at this turn of events and we are ensuring that they are updated as our investigation is progressing.”

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A petition was created in June calling for formal criminal charges to be brought against the two Met Police officers involved, and has now been signed by just under 40,000 people.

It states: "As a family we were assured that every respect would be shown to our beloved girls, and this disgraceful breach of their duty cannot be punished with just a disciplinary or the loss of a job.

"The family are struggling to come to terms with the loss of the two beautiful bright lights that have been taken from us, and we have to pray and believe that we will receive justice for their murders.

"But the alleged despicable behaviour of two officers whose only role was to ensure that the girls came to no further harm broke every rule of common decency, that is why I am asking you to sign this petition to ensure that these officers are never given an opportunity to disrespect anyone ever again in the way that they have our two girls."

The petition, set up by Jacqueline Henry, added that the police officers had allegedly "fallen woefully short of the high standards of integrity and behaviour that the public should expect from the police service."

The Met’s commander Paul Brogden added: “I am horrified and disgusted by the nature of these allegations; a sentiment which will be shared by colleagues throughout the organisation.

“If true, these actions are morally reprehensible, and anyone involved will be robustly dealt with.”

The two police officers, who are based on the Met’s North East Command, have been bailed pending further enquiries.

The Met said that prior to the killing, the two sisters had been in "good spirits" and "taking selfie pictures, listening to music and dancing with fairy lights" until at least 01:13am on the Sunday.

They were found unresponsive by officers around 1pm on June 7 and pronounced dead at the scene, but a post-mortem suggested they had been killed in the early hours of June 6.

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Hussein, of Guy Barnett Grove, Blackheath, south-east London, was arrested on July 1, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court, charged with two counts of murder and a further count of possession of an offensive weapon.