A family has lost its Supreme Court bid for the right to sue police for negligence over the death of a young mother.
Joanna Michael was killed by her ex-boyfriend in "a mad fit of jealous rage" despite dialling 999 twice.
"Individual and systemic failures" by police in Cardiff meant the emergency services arrived too late to save the 25-year-old's life.
Her family asked the highest court in the land - the the Supreme Court - to overturn an appeal court ruling in 2012 that the police have an "immunity" from being sued for negligence under common law for the actions of officers during "the investigation or suppression of crime".
However the justices decided by a 5-2 majority that the ruling was correct and dismissed the family's appeal.
Nicholas Bowen QC, appearing for Ms Michael's family, told the court the case was "desperately important".
"There is a need for a heightened accountability of the police in the light of recent scandals and investigations which have had a very serious detrimental affect on public and political confidence in police services."
He also described to the court how Ms Michaels was killed by ex-boyfriend Cyron Williams in August 2009.
The court heard Williams broke into her home "in a mad fit of jealous rage after he discovered she was in a new relationship some weeks after they had finished seeing each other".
He is now serving life with a 20-year tariff, meaning he will be behind bars until at least 2030.
Ms Michaels made her first call at 2.29am on August 5 and told Gwent Police operator that Williams had turned up at her house and found her with someone else.
He had bitten her ear, taken the other man away in his car, and told her he would return to kill her.
The call went through to Gwent - "the wrong police force" instead of South Wales police and was wrongly graded less seriously than it should have been.
A further 999 call was received by Gwent Police from Ms Michael at 2.43am and she could be heard screaming before the line went dead.
When police officers arrived that found Ms Michael had been stabbed 72 times.
Police claimed immunity from being sued by relying on the 1989 case of Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire - the "Yorkshire Ripper" case.
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