A teenager accused of murdering two sisters after signing a contract with a demon to “sacrifice” women in returning for winning the National Lottery will not give evidence at his murder trial.
Danyal Hussein, 19, from Blackheath, south London, denies both murders and a count of possession of an offensive weapon.
On Wednesday, 30 June, counsel for Mr Hussein, Riel Karmy-Jones QC, said she would not be calling any more evidence in his defence.
The judge, Mrs Justice Whipple, asked Ms Karmy-Jones if her client was aware the jury could draw “inferences” from him not giving evidence.
“He has,” she replied.
Earlier this month, Oliver Glasgow QC told the jury the sisters were “brutally” stabbed to death in the early hours of Saturday 6 June 2020.
Nicole Smallman, 27, a photographer from Harrow, and her sister Bibaa Henry, 46, a social worker from Wembley, were among a group of around 10 people who congregated in the park from around 7 p.m. on Friday 5 June to celebrate Bibaa’s birthday.
Gradually people left throughout the evening until only Nicole and Bibaa remained.
Mr Glasgow claims that in the early hours of the morning they were “taken by surprise” when Hussein attacked them, before concealing both bodies in the undergrowth.
He said DNA evidence and CCTV footage led to police identifying Hussain as the killer.
Mr Glasgow said at his home police found a handwritten contract with a demon called Lucifuge Rofocale.
The prosecutor said: “He promised to sacrifice women in order to win the lottery and not to be suspected of the crimes he had committed. It would appear that the defendant had confidence that his plan would work since following the fatal attacks upon Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, the defendant purchased several lottery tickets and there were three lottery tickets folded up inside the note.”
"As it turned out, the demon did not come good on the bargain, since not only did the defendant not win the lottery but the police identified all the evidence that links him to these two murders," said Mr Glasgow.
Hussain lived in Eltham, south London, but the prosecution claims that on the weekend of the murders he was staying with his father in Kingsbury, not far from the crime scene.
He said two days before the killings Hussain was caught on CCTV entering Asda supermarket in Colindale, where he bought a set of knives. Hussain denied he was the person seen in the CCTV footage and claims his bank card was stolen.
The trial is expected to finish next week.