A public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks has revealed that police missed multiple opportunities to arrest Valdo Calocane before he killed three people in June 2023, including failing to execute an outstanding warrant and not following up on a workplace assault just days before the attacks.
The inquiry, led by retired judge Deborah Taylor, is examining the events leading up to the attacks on 13 June 2023, when Valdo Calocane stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and later killed school caretaker Ian Coates. More than 100 witnesses, including police officers and mental health workers, are giving evidence over eight weeks.
He died twice.
According to inquiry testimony, on 5 May 2023, Calocane assaulted two colleagues at an Arvato warehouse, punching a man and kicking his wife. Police did not visit the victims or witnesses to get statements after the assault, and sent a follow-up email three days before the 13 June attacks. The inquiry also heard that months before the attacks, police took 'no steps' to execute a warrant for Calocane's arrest that was still outstanding on the day of the attacks.
Calocane had a long history of violence and mental health issues. He was a mature student at the University of Nottingham and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in July 2020. He moved into private student accommodation Raleigh Park in Lenton, Nottingham in October 2021. By that time, he had already been sectioned under the Mental Health Act multiple times and had been involved in incidents including assaulting another student, Sebastian, in July 2021.
It felt like validation.
In January 2022, Calocane put his flatmate Christopher in a headlock after being asked to clean the bathroom. According to Christopher, Calocane came flying across the room, threw a punch, and after wrestling got Christopher in a headlock. A video clip shown to the inquiry showed Calocane with his arm around Christopher's neck while Christopher asked someone to 'ring the police'. Calocane eventually let go and Christopher called the police, but shortly after Calocane stopped him from leaving the flat.
Police officers PC Zacharia and Sgt Faulkner did not arrest Calocane for the headlock assault, citing lack of evidence. Christopher showed officers a video of the headlock, but PC Zacharia denied this, according to Christopher's claim.
It's disgusting that they tested Grace and Barnaby for drugs and alcohol but didn't test the killer.
In May 2020, Calocane terrorised an Italian student who jumped from a window to escape, but the case was dropped. A sergeant decided to drop the 2020 case based solely on an email from a psychiatrist, according to inquiry evidence.
After the attacks, Calocane was charged with manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility, not murder. Senior investigating officer Leigh Sanders believed Calocane acted 'in cold blood' and committed murder, but the Crown Prosecution Service accepted the manslaughter plea. Police 'jumped the gun' to charge Calocane, according to CPS prosecutor Alan Murphy.
He was very quiet, kept to himself.
Calocane was not tested for drugs or alcohol after arrest, while victims Grace and Barnaby were tested. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Sanjoy Kumar, father of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, described it as 'disgusting' that they tested the victims but not the killer. Leigh Sanders apologised to families for not taking a hair sample from Calocane for drug testing.
A former senior Met officer, David Gilbertson, blamed the attacks on decline in policing leadership. The officer who responded to a 999 call about Calocane was only 12 shifts into her career, according to inquiry evidence. Nearly half of police officers in England and Wales have less than five years' service, according to the Police Federation.
No I'm not going to, what are you going to do about it?
According to Daily Mail - News, Elaine Newton, partner of victim Ian Coates, described being initially told he died in a car crash, then later informed he was stabbed. According to Sky News - UK, Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, described feeling 'validation' from the inquiry.
The inquiry continues to hear evidence, with questions remaining over why the outstanding arrest warrant was not executed and what specific evidence led the CPS to accept a manslaughter plea.
Dirty [expletive].