Domestic abuse victims must be heard on first 999 call, campaigner says

Domestic violence victims need to be heard the first time they call 999, a campaigner whose niece was killed by her ex-partner after calling the police multiple times has said.

Nour Norris, whose niece Raneem Oudeh, 22, and sister Khaola Saleem, 49, were murdered by Ms Oudeh’s ex-partner in 2018, said that those calling the police for help “need to be given the opportunity to be saved”.

The Home Office has said some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 999 control rooms early next year as part of “Raneem’s Law” to transform the way the police handle cases of violence against women and girls.

The Government will fund the pilot in targeted police forces from early 2025, but did not say how many forces would be involved in the initial rollout.

An inquest found mistakes made by West Midlands Police had “materially contributed” to Ms Oudeh and Ms Saleem’s deaths.

On the night they were killed, Ms Oudeh had called West Midlands Police four times to register concerns for her safety, and the force had previously responded to 10 domestic abuse incidents linked to the case.

Five officers were disciplined over the failures.

Ms Norris said her sister and niece “tried their best to be here today” but “the system failed”.

She said: “No-one should really have to suffer what Raneem suffered.

“Trying to explain herself, trying to put an administration order in place for herself … trying to do whatever it takes to be heard, and she was still not heard until she lost her life.

“My sister lost her life because she was doing the job of the police – doing the sacrificing for mother and daughter.”

Ms Norris joined Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to meet 999 control handlers during a visit to Kent Police’s Coldharbour Police Complex in Aylesford, Kent, on Thursday.

Police showed them an emergency response video call – known as rapid video response – which officers are using as part of efforts to ensure that victims get a fast response and are referred to support services as quickly as possible.

In that example, police said the woman who called had said the alleged perpetrator was not home so it was deemed safe to respond with a video call rather than a home visit.

Raneem’s Law will be brought into effect through national guidance that police will be required to follow.

“The first instance when someone calls 999 – this is the first time where you really need to give them the right safeguarding. They need to be heard,” Ms Norris said.

“They need to be given the opportunity to be saved.

“And 999 call handlers, with specialists, they’ll be able to offer that.”

Ms Cooper said: “What we’ve seen is if there is proper domestic abuse expertise, it means that you can get the right response to the calls that come in and proper understanding of the seriousness of domestic abuse as a crime and how lives are at risk.

“In the most serious cases, as we saw in the awful case where Raneem and her mother Khaola lost their lives because the police didn’t respond to a 999 call.

“We cannot let that happen, and that’s why we want to make sure that we’ve got that expertise that we need in 999 control rooms across the country.”

It comes as the Metropolitan Police confirmed on Wednesday that four officers are under investigation for misconduct after two women were murdered by a man they had complained about to the force.

Carl Cooper, 66, was jailed for life in July for the murders of Naomi Hunte, 41, who was stabbed in the chest, and Fiona Holm, 48, whose body has never been found.

Both women had been in a relationship with handyman Cooper around a year apart and had complained to police about his violence.

A domestic abuse protection order pilot is to be launched in November that will place tougher sanctions on domestic abusers if they fail to stay away from their victims.

Perpetrators will be legally required to inform the police of any name or address changes under the new orders.

The orders will also allow electronic tagging to be imposed and assessments for behaviour change programmes to be ordered.

There will also be no maximum duration for these orders, unlike current powers police have to order abusers to not make contact with or go within a certain distance of their victim, which expire after 28 days.

Breaching one of these new orders will be a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison.

They can be applied for all forms of domestic abuse, including violence, stalking and controlling behaviour.

Family and civil courts as well as local authorities, charities and social services will be able to apply the orders – rather than only police and criminal courts.

Abigail Ampofo, interim chief executive of Refuge, said: “Whilst we broadly support the raft of measures announced by the Home Office, including specialists in 999 control rooms, we need to see far more detail on how these plans will be implemented and how staff will be safely recruited, vetted and most importantly trained for this pilot scheme due to be implemented in early 2025.”

Ms Ampofo said Refuge had been waiting “with bated breath” for the rollout of domestic abuse protection orders first announced by the previous government and is pleased the pilot is getting up and running.

She added: “However, we know there are a myriad of issues when it comes to police using their powers to protect survivors and hold perpetrators to account, so often survivors tell us that the police don’t act on breaches of these orders, and they are often worth ‘little more than the paper they are written on’.”

Almost 100 domestic abuse-related offences were recorded by the police every hour on average last year, the Home Office said.