Domestic abuse 999 pilot gives victims support

Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem were murdered in 2018 by Janbaz Tarin, after a string of reports to police about his violence

A force has been chosen to pilot a new service, set up following the murders of a mother and daughter by the younger woman's ex-husband.

Northamptonshire Police will have domestic abuse specialists in its 999 control room as part of an initiative known as Raneem's Law to improve police response to domestic violence.

Raneem's Law was set up by the Home Office following the murders in 2018 of Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem by Ms Oudeh's ex-husband.

The force introduced a similar scheme in 2021 and said it was "hugely effective".

One of the specialists, Cerri Glynane, said people who used the service "can know that there is hope and there will be a change that can happen."

Janbaz Tarin, from Sparkhill, in Birmingham, hunted the two women down after Ms Oudeh broke up with him because he had a secret wife and children in Afghanistan.

The Independent Office of Police Conduct found that the police had failed to carry out satisfactory intelligence checks when Ms Oudeh reported her husband's violence.

The scheme in 2021 involved crisis advisors working in control rooms and dealing with incidents as they come in, as well as going out with police officers to incidents that were under way.

The advisors also went to scheduled appointments.

Cerri Glynane has worked with police officers in the control room since 2022

Cerri Glynane has been in the Northamptonshire control room since 2022.

She said: "We're ensuring that we're giving extra information to the police if [the victim is] known to us, what the history is, what the risks are, because we could hold information that's been known to us previously that the police might not know.

"We can say 'we're really concerned now about the risks posed to that person' and the action we feel would be suitable for the police to take."

She said the service offered victims "emotional support", adding: "Those people have been living in fear for such a long time, not knowing that there is a way out."

Det Supt Joe Banfield said the force was delighted to have been chosen to pilot Raneem's law

Det Supt Joe Banfield said: "We are delighted to have been chosen as a pilot force for Raneem's law."

He said the independent specialist advisors in control rooms had "already proved to be hugely effective, and through the Raneem's Law pilot, we are able to increase the support being offered, safeguard more victims and hopefully prevent repeated abuse".