Spurned killer jailed for murdering wife after she discovered his secret family

A 21-year-old man has been jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years for murdering his wife and her mother, after his secret second family was discovered.

Janbaz Tarin admitted murdering Raneem Oudeh, 22, and her mother Khaola Saleem, outside Mrs Saleem’s home in Northdown Road, Solihull, West Midlands, shortly after midnight on August 27.

Tarin, of Evelyn Road in Sparkhill, Birmingham, had armed himself with a knife after a public row with Ms Oudeh, who was his wife under Islamic law, before driving to the scene and launching his attack.

He later fled, leading police on a three-day manhunt before his dramatic capture by officers.

It emerged Ms Oudeh had dumped her husband in the weeks before his attack, after learning he had three children and a secret wife in Afghanistan.

Sentencing Tarin at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, the judge told him his crimes had “devastated” the victims’ family.

Jilted Tarin first met Ms Oudeh at Solihull College and had also lied to her about how young he was, before marrying her.

He was abusive towards her in the relationship, and she had previously contacted the police about his violent behaviour, but when she discovered his web of deceit, Ms Oudeh dumped him.

But he repeatedly hassled his ex-partner, “relentlessly” stalking and pursuing her, prosecutors said.

Ms Oudeh, who had a two-year-old son from another relationship, had recently secured a non-molestation order against Tarin, with the help of her mother, before the “sustained and brutal” attack.

In the weeks before her murder, Ms Oudeh told family members he had threatened her, saying “if you leave me, I will kill you and your family”.

CCTV captured the moment Tarin, who worked as an agency driver for Rentokil, went inside and sparked a confrontation, as he snatched his estranged wife’s phone.

Opening the case, Annabel Darlow QC, said: “The defendant was seen to slap Mrs Saleem across the face with an open hand during the confrontation and threatened to kill Raneem.”

He was kicked out by staff, but was moments later seen driving past in his van “indicating as he did so a cutting motion across his neck towards Raneem”.

Tarin left, went to his father’s supermarket, and secreted a 12-inch steak knife in his waistband before leaving.

At the shisha lounge, Ms Oudeh had made the first of three calls to police that night, reporting Tarin had attacked her.

Leaving the bar in her mother’s Honda CR-V, she then arrived at her flat in Kingsdown Road, Birmingham, but rang police again, telling them she did not feel safe and would leave.

“She expressed concern that the matter was going to be left until the following day, pointing out that the police were not coming quickly enough.

“She pointed out that the defendant had followed her from her mother’s to a restaurant and had waited for her.”

Ms Oudeh, with her mother in their car, were viewed on CCTV leaving for Mrs Saleem’s home, and at 11.48pm Tarin’s could be made out, following close behind.

At 12.26am – having already driven to Northdown Road – Ms Oudeh, still with her mother, made the last of her calls to police, telling them she would be at the Solihull address.

Ms Darlow said: “She indicated that she was not going to stay at her home address because she did not have a key and was worried that if she stayed, the defendant would come and hurt her.”

Ten minutes later police rang Ms Oudeh back, telling her “officers would call her the following morning to go through the incident”.

In what would be her last words, she asked the operator: “I just wanted to ask you, will he be arrested tomorrow or not?”

Miss Darlow said: “Screaming can then be heard in the background to the call, with the words ‘He’s there, there, there’.

“Further screams are heard before the call goes silent.”

Tarin fled, dumping his van, and hid from police for three days, triggering a huge manhunt.

A tip-off by a member of the public later led to his capture.

Ms Oudeh was only in the UK having fled the war in Syria, and had reunited with her mother and stepfather who had lived in Solihull for 16 years.

Ms Oudeh’s half-sister, 15-year-old Kinaan, was babysitting in the house that night when she heard screaming outside, and witnessed part of the attack, leaving her unable to sleep at the family home.

In a victim impact statement read to court, she told the court: “Ever since that deadly night, I still can hear the painful scream.

“Every time I walk past my home I can still see my sister falling for the last time, and my mother on the floor.”

Of Ms Oudeh, she added: “She loved her only child more than herself, always putting him first.

“But now all I can see from this disgusting world is just pure darkness.”

He told the court Tarin had three children, all aged under five, and had come to the UK aged 15, despite hearsay evidence he was now older than his 21 years.

After sentencing, Ms Oudeh’s aunt, Nour Norris, criticised the police for not doing more to protect her niece.

Asked if she believed the police and authorities had failed to do enough, Mrs Norris replied: “Yes we do.

“We do feel that and we feel there’s a lot of women out there as well probably going through the same thing, who agree with us.”

She added the family felt “even more let down” by the fact Tarin was on the run for three days, before his capture.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the circumstances surrounding the police response to the murders, after the force referred the incident itself.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Payne, head of West Midlands Police’s CID, said: “This was a man who sought out two defenceless women and took a weapon in order to end their lives.

“I’m glad today the courts have recognised the severity of what went on.”

Mr Payne said: “I’ve been a police officer for 24 years and this is the first time I’ve come across a double murder in these circumstances.

He added: “If there’s learning (from the IOPC), we’ll take it on board.”