Police boss regrets failure to arrest Nottingham triple killer

Image caption, Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar died at the scene of the attacks

By Gavin Bevis & PA Media

BBC News, East Midlands

A police chief has said more should have been done to arrest a man who went on to kill three people in Nottingham.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Valdo Calocane after he failed to attend court in September 2022 over an alleged assault on a police officer.

He was never arrested from that warrant and nine months later, fatally stabbed three people.

Nottinghamshire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin said he had reviewed the force’s involvement.

Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley, both 19, were killed by Calocane on 13 June along with school caretaker Ian Coates, 65.

The 32-year-old is being sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.

He has also admitted three counts of attempted murder after driving a van at three people following the killings.

Image source, Nottinghamshire Police

Image caption, An arrest warrant had been issued for Calocane in September 2022

Mr Griffin said: “I can confirm that Nottinghamshire Police previously engaged with the suspect, mostly while supporting our colleagues in the NHS on a number of occasions between 2020 and 2022.

“In September 2021, we were requested to support a Section 135 warrant to section the suspect under the Mental Health Act.

“We transported the suspect to Highbury Hospital and during this encounter he assaulted one of our police officers.

“In August 2022, he was reported for summons and was due to attend court on 22 September 2022 for the assault on our officer.

“He failed to appear on that occasion and a warrant for his arrest was issued in September 2022.

“The defendant was never arrested for that warrant which was still outstanding at the point of his arrest in June 2023.

“I have personally reviewed this matter and we should have done more to arrest him.

“However, because of the circumstance prevailing, at the time of the alleged assault, in my opinion it is highly unlikely that he would have received a custodial sentence.

“Of course, an arrest might have triggered a route back into mental health services, but as we have seen from his previous encounters with those services, it seems unlikely that he would have engaged in this process.”

Media caption, Watch: In an emotional interview, Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s family say they are “dizzy with grief”

At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Barnaby Webber’s younger brother described his older sibling as a “hero”.

In a video statement, Charlie Webber said: “When I was younger, he was always the person I went to if I was scared of something or had a tough decision to make.

“When I first learned what happened I wanted to set the world on fire, I was so angry at everyone.

“He was my hero. He didn’t just die a hero to the world, but he was a hero to me.

“On June 13 2023, you [Calocane] didn’t just take my brother from me and from those around me, but you also took a large part of me from myself.”

Killer ‘deeply sorry’

The hearing has been told about possible sentencing options for Calocane, with a “hybrid” life sentence with a hospital direction or a hospital order under the Mental Health Act under consideration.

Dr Nigel Blackwood, professor of forensic psychiatry at King’s College London, told the court a “hybrid” sentence could lead to Calocane, who has a treatment-resistant form of paranoid schizophrenia, stopping the taking of medication while in prison.

“He has shown a profound lack of insight into the fact that he has an illness,” Dr Blackwood said.

“Were he to stop taking medication in prison, there is a significant risk of lethal behaviours returning, whether against prison officers or fellow inmates.”

Dr Blackwood added that, in discussions, Calocane had noted that he carried out a “horrific” crime and was “deeply sorry”, but wanted people to know he had been a “targeted individual” by “malign forces” since 2019.

Image source, Helen Tipper

Image caption, The court has been discussing sentencing options for Calocane

Calocane’s barrister told the court the defendant’s condition had once led him to travel to MI5’s London headquarters.

Peter Joyce KC said: “He [Calocane] tried to surrender to MI5 at their headquarters to try and stop them controlling him.

“That’s not a concoction by him. There is a photograph taken by their systems at Thames House, saying ‘please arrest me’ – effectively ‘stop controlling me’.”

Mr Joyce said the incident happened on 31 May 2021, about two years before the killings.

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