The grieving mother of a 19-year-old killed in the Nottingham attacks has demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, claiming the justice system allowed Valdo Calocane to "get away with murder."
Families Speak Out After Inquiry Evidence
Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, said "every single agency" including police, the NHS, and mental health services failed to stop paranoid schizophrenic Calocane from murdering three people and attempting to murder three others during the rampage on June 13, 2023. Calocane, 32, is currently detained indefinitely in a psychiatric facility after admitting manslaughter on diminished responsibility grounds.
A three-month inquiry into the circumstances leading to the triple killings heard its last evidence on Friday, with findings expected in May next year.
Demand for Government Meeting
Speaking at a press conference held by victims' families, Ms Webber said: "Valdo Calocane got away with murder. He took three innocent lives, tried to take three more, and the system let him plead to manslaughter. No murder conviction, no trial, no proper punishment. That decision robbed Barnaby, Grace, and Ian of justice, and it robbed us of the truth in a court of law."
She added: "Clear evidence has come forward to prove that Calocane did have a history, that there were areas of his life and background and behaviour that should have been explored. Evidence of his insight, his planning, and his culpability was overlooked by a weak prosecution and poor-quality expert witnesses. A seriously mentally unwell man, yes, but one that knew entirely what he was doing."
Ms Webber demanded a meeting between ministers and victims' families within the next month, including the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Home Secretary, Health Secretary, and Justice Minister. "We will not accept that a triple killer evades accountability through his own manipulation and legal technicalities," she said.
Criticism of Psychiatric Report
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, father of 20-year-old victim Grace O'Malley-Kumar, singled out a psychiatric report reviewed by the CPS during the court case as leading to Calocane being handed a hospital order rather than a prison sentence. Claiming the report "did not cover the basics" and failed to properly assess the attacker's state of mind on the day of the attacks, he said: "Valdo Calocane should have been convicted of cold-blooded, calculated murder of three innocent people, one of which was my brave and beautiful daughter Grace... a life sentence of pain has instead been imposed on us."
He added: "The CPS and the HM CPSI both accepted a flawed psychiatric report that did not cover the basics... where state of mind on the day of the attacks could not be assessed, apart from within a crystal ball - what I now call crystal ball psychiatry."
Systemic Failures Exposed
James Coates, eldest son of school caretaker Ian Coates who was fatally attacked roughly an hour after Grace and Barnaby, said the inquiry had uncovered the "true harrowing scale of the failures and laziness and negligence." This included Nottinghamshire Police's failure to carry out a warrant for Calocane's arrest prior to the attack, and the decision by NHS doctors and the psychiatrist to discharge the diagnosed schizophrenic back into the public because "they couldn't find him."
Adding that the months after the attacks saw various agencies "close ranks" and "mark their own homework," he said: "The people of Nottingham and the British public at large put their trust in the police, the NHS and the judicial system. These institutions failed at every single level. We will continue to fight to the bitter end to ensure that absolute accountability is taken and that no other family has to endure the preventable torture we live with every single day."
Government Response
A Government spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are first and foremost remain with the families and loved ones of those who were tragically killed in this truly horrific case, and we continue to stand with them in the face of such devastating loss. We are determined to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again. The Nottingham Inquiry is a crucial step in building a clearer understanding of the events that led to this tragedy, including for the families who deserve answers. We are grateful to the Inquiry for their ongoing work and will carefully consider their recommendations and findings once published."
