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A teenager has been arrested after the daughters of a Ramsgate couple were stabbed to death in a park after a socially distanced birthday.
The bodies of sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry - aged 27 and 46 - were discovered in Fryent Country Park in Brent, London, just before 1.10pm on June 7.
The 18-year-old was arrested at an address in south London on suspicion of both murders. He was taken into custody where he remains.
Bibaa and Nicole were stabbed to death in the early hours of June 6 at the park where they had spent the evening celebrating Bibaa’s 46th birthday.
Gradually people are believed to have left throughout the evening and by about 12.30am only the sisters remained.
The last contact they are believed to have had with family and friends was more than 30 minutes later.
They were in "good spirits" and taking selfie pictures, listening to music and dancing with fairy lights until at least 1.13am - but calls to the victims more than an hour later went unanswered.
Police were called at 1pm the next day to a report of two women found unresponsive.
Officers and paramedics attended and they were pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death for both women as stab wounds.
In a statement released by the Metropolitan Police, the parents of the two sisters said: “The greatest fear of any parent is that they will outlive their children.
“What makes our situation unique is that two adored sisters were murdered together on the same night.
“The grief we feel is palpable, our beautiful and talented daughters gone.”
DCI Simon Harding, who is leading the investigation at specialist crime, said: "This investigation into the awful death of two sisters is of course a priority for the MPS and my officers have been working around the clock to identify the person responsible.
"Given the significance of this development, we visited the family in person today to inform them of the arrest. Our thoughts remain with them at this very difficult time.
"A team of forensic officers have been a constant presence at the park over the last few weeks carrying out meticulous fingertip searches at what is a vast and complex crime scene.
"Whilst that work has now concluded, smaller searches in outer areas of the park will continue."
To date officers have recovered more than 1,000 exhibits – including property belonging to both Nicole and Bibaa, collected hours of CCTV and visited hundreds of homes and businesses.
He added: "I would continue to appeal to the public to come forward with any information they feel may be relevant to our investigation."
Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8721 4205, via 101 or tweet @MetCC quoting CAD 3160/7Jun.
Alternatively information can be provided online and to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org
