17 hours ago
'I'm haunted by 999 call played in court - I still play it to myself'
Nour Norris has implemented new law supported by MP Jess Phillips calling for a specialist police response to victims of domestic violence after the murders of her niece and sister who died while on the phone to West Midlands Police
Presenting a Special Recognition Award to a woman whose campaigning changed the law after the murder of her sister and niece, Jess Phillips revealed she is haunted by the sound of their screams.
Nour Norris' older sister Khaola Saleem, 49, and niece Raneem Oudeh, 22, were stabbed to death by the younger woman's ex partner Janbaz Tarin, 21, in a frenzied knife attack on August 27 2018 - after police failed to respond to their pleas for help.
A supporter of The Mirror's Justice For Our Daughters campaign, Nour is finally seeing the positive effects of Raneem's Law - calling for a specialist police response to victims of domestic violence - for which she has lobbied tirelessly.
She was backed by MP for Birmingham's Yardley, Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, who lives less than a mile away from Khaola's home in Solihull, where the mother and daughter were killed, after making four 999 calls that night.
READ MORE: 'My boyfriend almost beat me to death but I was so under his control it took me years to break free'
Raneem had made four 999 calls that night before the police called her back. While on the phone to the call handler she was killed.
Speaking at this week's True Crime Award s in London, where Nour was honoured for her campaigning, Ms Phillips recalled hearing audio of the final call when she was killed, saying: "I'll never forget as long as I live.
'Sometimes I'll listen to it again to remind myself of the sound of what was played in the court in the inquest - her voice on the call - and just how badly the call was handled.
'It is devastating to listen to, and through that one bit of audio it was immediately clear that this is the thing we are going to have to change.'
Since that harrowing audio was played at the inquest into their deaths in 2022, Jess has worked alongside Nour to deliver Raneem's Law - embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms, with the aim of providing better support for victims. It is now live in five police forces - West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Northumberland, and Humberside - with hopes to roll out across the country as soon as possible.
Praising Nour for channelling her loss into bringing about meaningful change for domestic abuse victims, at the event at Hilton London Bankside, Ms Phillips vowed: 'We won't stop until every victim gets the protection they deserve.'
A longtime campaigner for victims of domestic violence, Jess spoke of her heartbreak that, as a local MP, she did not know of the mother and daughter's trauma until it was too late. 'Their deaths were avoidable,' she said. 'Not just on the night - there were nine other times Raneem called the police. I feel like if I had known them before, they would still be alive. If they had somebody like me advocating for them. "
Mistakes made by West Midlands Police "materially contributed" to their deaths, the inquest heard.
Members of the force had previously responded to 10 domestic abuse incidents linked to violence at Tarin's hands, and five officers were subsequently disciplined over its failings.
On the day they died, Tarin spent hours searching for Ms Oudeh and her mother before the double-murder.
Raneem and Khaola had been at Nour's home just hours before the murder.
She told The Mirror: 'I was very worried for them. I made lots of food so they would stay. I just wanted them to stay with me. I knew he (Tarin) was harassing them, but not how bad things had got - my sister and niece never said. But I had a horrible feeling in my heart.'
Referring to the harrowing 999 calls, she added: 'The police heard my niece screaming as she was attacked.'
Describing how her sister tried to save her daughter, she continued: 'My sister did what the police should have done that day, and her life was taken.
"After Raneem's first and second call ( to the police) he (Tarin)realised he could get away with it. He told her 'they listen to me so why are they going to believe you?"
'He was never arrested or cautioned. It's very painful and frustrating to know if the calls had been taken seriously, they would be still here.'
Raneem, who fled to the UK in 2013 from war-torn Syria, had been issued a restraining order, which Tarim repeatedly violated, leaving Raneem terrified for her and her family's lives, as he made threats to kill them.
In December 2018, he was jailed for a minimum of 32 years, for what officers described as the "brutal murder of two defenceless ladies by a man who had spent the day hunting them down".
Now Ms Phillips hopes the embedding of domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms will help to save lives.
She said: 'It should mean that when a victim like Raneem makes that brave call for help they receive an immediate and expert response."
The True Crime Awards, partnered by I-ME, were established to celebrate content being produced across the true crime genre - bringing together creators as well as those affected by crime who have gone to campaign for legal improvements.
Previous recipients include Marie McCourt MBE for delivering Helen's Law - denying killers parole for failing to tell the location of their victims' remains - after her daughter Helen was killed after vanishing near their home in St Helens, Merseyside in 1988.
The Mirror's Justice For Our Daughters campaign, which has called for a number of changes to protect victims of domestic violence.
Justice For Our Daughters Demands
1 Longer sentences for domestic abuse killers
Under current laws if a murderer has brought a weapon to a scene with intent to kill, he or she would expect to be jailed for 25 years. However, if you kill someone with a weapon already at the scene the starting point is 15 years. The law should be updated so these domestic violence killers receive 25 years too.
2 Longer sentences for murder by strangulation
A quarter of domestic homicides are by strangulation. The law should be updated so that when someone is fatally strangled the method of killing is regarded as an aggravating factor and carries a longer sentence.
3 Domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms
For victims of domestic abuse to be given immediate access to trained specialists in police control rooms, in line with Labour's pledge.
4 Domestic abusers to face manslaughter charges if victims take their own lives
Coercive control and abuse perpetrators should face legal consequences in line with the suffering they have cause..
