They thought they would be safe here – a separated close family all together at last and far from war-torn Syria.
Nour Norris had come to the UK to marry her British boyfriend in 1997 and had persuaded big sister Khaola Saleem to follow five years later.
And in 2014 Nour’s happiness was complete when Khaola’s married daughter Raneem, her niece, fled their troubled homeland in 2014 and joined them in Solihull with her husband.
But they weren’t safe at all. And for mum-of-four Nour, a nightmare was about to begin. One with no ending, thanks to an uncaring police force.
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The blood-curdling knife murders of Khaola, 49, and 22-year-old Raneem by her then estranged husband Janbaz Tarin in August 2018 shook the nation.
They were slaughtered outside Khaloa’s home after Raneem made 14 999 calls to West Midlands Police about Tarin’s violence and death threats in the weeks before she died, all brushed aside, none followed up.
Her 15th and last desperate call was made as Tarin, then 21, was stabbing her.
The police recording was played to a stunned inquest last month, in which screaming could be heard in the background, with the words “he’s there, there, there”, before the line went silent.
The inquest found police failings “materially contributed” to the deaths.
In one desperate call the operator told her: “Go to your mum’s, lock the door, and we will see you tomorrow.”
Now Nour, today giving her first newspaper interview since the harrowing inquest, is launching a campaign backed by Birmingham Labour MP Jess Phillips – calling for the Government to make sure EVERY police officer in the country is specially trained to respond to domestic violence.
“The police have blood on their hands,” says Nour, 43.
“I hold them partly responsible for my sister and niece’s deaths.
“To me, the police themselves are domestic abusers by extension as their system fails to protect women.
“They spoke to my niece like they were fixing a computer. They were cold, dismissive. They didn’t speak to her like a human being. They didn’t act like human beings . They’d say to her: ‘You’re wasting our time, deal with him yourself. You can’t call us all the time. Ask him to leave.’”
Nour says worried neighbours also made 999 calls, over regular screams from the house in Solihull as Tarin, now jailed for a minimum 32 years, got more dangerous.
One neighbour went round with a stick when police failed to turn up.
When a family member who witnessed the crime called Nour to tell her what was happening, she rushed to the scene, watching paramedics do CPR on Raneem’s bloodied body.
“I knew there was nothing they could do,” Nour says.
“It was like a horror film.”
She says she had always been worried about Tarin and his treatment of her niece – recalling a chilling warning of what was to come.
“He was cold and arrogant,” says Nour.
“I knew something was wrong after their wedding in 2017. Raneem said he told her, ‘In our culture, we don’t have divorce. Now you’re my wife, the day you leave, I will kill you’.
“He became very controlling and obsessive and wanted her to dress and talk in a certain way.”
The fuse of his deadly behaviour was lit weeks before the killings, when Raneem left him after discovering he had a secret family, including three children and a pregnant wife, in Afghanistan.
She moved back to her mum Khaola’s home nearby, but Tarin continued to harass and threaten her, even sleeping outside the house for 12 nights.
On the night of the murders Raneem called police four times and was seen on CCTV arguing with Tarin in a shisha lounge in Birmingham hours before her death. Staff kicked him out. He made a throat-cutting gesture to Raneen as he drove away.
Since the murders, devastated clothes shop owner Nour – who has never received a personal apology from West Midlands Police – has had to close her business.
Her marriage broke down. She struggles to sleep and can’t bear to look at pictures of Raneem from her final 18 months.
“I keep a necklace Raneem’s, and I also one of my sister’s coffee cups I use sometimes,” says Nour, who still lives in Solihull.
“But I struggle to look at photos of them from those final months. My sister became so stressed about Raneem. On her final birthday, we could see bruising around her eye.
“Raneem fled war in Syria to be with her family, be safe. But life in the UK proved even more dangerous to her and authorities failed to protect her.”
Despite her trauma, Nour has retrained as a counsellor and hopes to help other domestic violence.
Her campaign, backed by MP Jess, the shadow minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding, is called Prevent Future Deaths from Domestic Violence.
As well as domestic violence training for every officer also wants legislation to ensure a joined-up police process – ensuring all calls are reported into one system so none get lost and every woman is supported and safeguarded at each stage.
Ms Phillips said: “Nour has my full support. It is unbelievable there are still police officers or any policing staff who do not have in depth and specialist domestic abuse training. The Government should stop saying they hope it will happen and force it.”
Nour says the murders have motivated her to ensure her daughter, Iman, 20, lives in a safer society for women. She says Raneem “was incredibly strong and independent – she wanted to be a dentist or a lawyer.
“She wasn’t a meek or vulnerable woman and I think it’s important to show victims can be anyone – your mum, your sister, your daughter, your friend. She tried to be firm with Tarin, but she was trapped and scared.”
Nour also recalls happy times with her tragic older sister Khaola who died trying to save her daughter. They lived streets apart and worked together in her shop.
“Khaola used to crack jokes and would laugh so much she cried,” she says.
“She was so full of love and happiness and she moulded who I am today.”
While Nour thinks there was an element of racism and misogyny behind the police failings, she is keen to emphasise that domestic violence is “something that affects women of all cultures”.
Latest statistics show one in three face domestic violence here, while two are murdered by their partners every week on average.
“Preventing future deaths is very important. There’s a lack of understanding of domestic abuse across policing and social services,” says Nour.
“Yes, there were no doubt individual mistakes and prejudices involved in my family’s case, but it’s a failure of the system. It’s a crisis in how this country handles domestic abuse. Unless change happens now, more women like my sister and niece will die.”
Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Andy Hill said: “I would like to apologise to Raneem and Khaola’s family.
“More could have been done to protect Raneem and to to join up the incidents of abuse being reported.”
A force statement said front line officers would be receiving domestic abuse training.
