Murder of woman by ex-husband despite her calling 999 four times in one night prompts new scheme

Domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in 999 control rooms after a woman was murdered by her ex-husband despite ringing police four times on the night she died.

The government has announced a pilot in which experts will be placed in some 999 call centres from early 2025 to ensure victims get specialist support straight away.

They will advise police on risk assessments and work with officers on the ground, and will have a team assisting them to improve how police respond to domestic violence calls around the clock.

The initiative is part of the government's pledge to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.

It will form part of "Raneem's Law", named after Raneem Oudeh, 22, after she and her mother, Khaola Saleem, were murdered by Raneem's ex-husband in 2018.

Ms Oudeh had called 999 14 times in the months leading up to her death to report incidents of domestic abuse, including threats to kill and stab her, but police did not log the reports correctly, did not follow up and did not assess them correctly.

On the night her husband stabbed her and her mother to death outside Mrs Saleem's home, she had called 999 four times to say how scared she was of Janbaz Tarin, her estranged husband, after she discovered he had a secret second family in Afghanistan.

Ms Oudeh was told to go to her mother's house and police would visit her the next day. She was on the phone to West Midlands Police when she was stabbed.

An inquest found the police force "materially contributed" to their deaths.

Nearly 100 domestic abuse related offences were recorded by the police every hour on average last year.

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As part of the initiative, from November, more domestic abusers will be ordered to stay away from their victims and will face tougher sanctions if they fail to do so through another pilot scheme, Domestic Abuse Protection Orders.

Nour Norris, Ms Oudeh's aunt and Mrs Saleem's sister, said she is "deeply proud" the government has listened to her campaign to improve outcomes for all domestic abuse victims.

"Knowing that Raneem's name will now be a source of hope and protection for others fills me with a sense of pride I cannot put into words," she said.

"Raneem's memory lives on in this law, and it means the world to me to know that her story will help save lives."

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Jess Phillips, minister for violence against women and girls, said the specialists will ensure cases like Ms Oudeh's "don't happen again".

She told Sky News the ambition is to have a "standardised system across the country" as currently, responses to domestic violence vary across police forces.

Ms Phillips added: "Most domestic abuse incidences are repeat offences. So getting it right the first time you call actually is part of a prevention model, making sure somebody gets the service that they need when the first time they call is vitally important.

"But we have to stop this happening in the first place."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said introducing Raneem's Law has been "a personal priority for me" as she said the "failure to understand the seriousness of domestic abuse" has cost far too many lives.

"Today is just one step of many towards tangible and long-lasting change," she added.