Solihull murders: Police 'failed and let down' women says ex-watchdog

"Shocking" constabulary failures contributed to the murders of 2 women stabbed to decease successful the West Midlands, a erstwhile inspector astatine the constabulary watchdog said.

West Midlands Police has apologised to the family.

Zoe Billingham, who served arsenic Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, said they were "failed" by officers.

"In each steps, the victims successful this peculiarly tragic and shocking lawsuit were failed and fto down by the police," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She said it was "astonishing" constabulary had invited Ms Oudeh's estranged hubby Janbaz Tarin for a voluntary interrogation and that officers "possibly didn't instrumentality the victims seriously".

West Midlands Police had "so galore opportunities to prevention their lives, close up until the end", Mrs Saleem's sister, Naur Norris, said aft the inquest.

In their last hours, Ms Oudeh made six 999 calls aft Tarin deed her astatine a edifice and followed them home, but officers failed to scope them successful time.

In the last call, which the inquest heard, Ms Oudeh's screams could beryllium heard arsenic she was attacked.

Ms Norris said the unit had "failed Khaola and Raneem beyond imagination".

It was not the archetypal clip Tarin's actions had been reported to police, with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) detailing 10 home maltreatment incidents reported to West Midlands Police betwixt April and August.

The IOPC recovered the unit failed to transportation retired satisfactory quality checks erstwhile responding to home incidents betwixt Ms Oudeh and Tarin and "dealt with each incidental successful isolation".

The deficiency of clip constabulary officers person to bash their occupation good has to beryllium addressed by West Midlands Police, Ms Billingham said.

"One of the cardinal lessons present for the unit is to marque definite that you escaped up constabulary clip truthful they tin instrumentality home maltreatment seriously," she added.

The unit had made changes since the murders, including expanding the fig of officers investigating home maltreatment offences, Assistant Chief Constable Andy Hill said.

But helium accepted "none of this volition undo the devastation that the murders of Raneem and Khaola caused to their family".